Photograph by Greg Insco
For 13 years, Colerain native Greg Insco, 43, has run a dance studio in Northgate Mall. Now, he’s swapping out storefront vibes for church bells.
In March, Insco purchased a large Colerain church for $210,000, with the mission of turning it into the new home of The Studio. The 126-year-old church, located at 10160 Colerain Ave. near the I-275 exit, is a highly recognizable mainstay to locals and was formerly used as a Masonic Lodge.
He announced the big news recently on Facebook. “If for some reason I can’t figure out how to make this our new dance studio, then I’ll just live here with my cat, lol,” he said in a Facebook post announcing the big news. Insco also gave credit to Northgate Mall for allowing a month-to-month lease while he works on the church.
Photograph by Greg Insco
Why did he buy it? Location is the name of the game. “We will be going from a location that people can’t find and don’t know exists to a location you literally can’t miss,” he says. “We love our mall location but would like our fate to be in our hands.”
The Studio offers zumba, line dancing, cardio boxing, and other fitness classes, but the purchase of the church comes with big plans far beyond dance. According to Insco, “With the new spaces, we’ll be able to do weddings and more kids’ birthday parties, baby showers, and gender reveals.”
Buying and renovating a church isn’t easy. In fact, he was recently back on Facebook with a picture of the 28-foot church steeple, requesting help to install it. Additionally, the church has significant zoning, fire code, and ADA compatibility issues.
Photograph by Greg Insco
Insco feels the encouragement of his community urging his dream forward, though. “I’m doing everything on my own but have been blown away by the outpouring of support and people offering their services for free,” he says. “Everyone seems to be glad it’s not getting torn down or going to be another car lot.”
Insco chronicles his renovations daily on Facebook. On March 31, he posted about
Photograph by Greg Insco
demolishing a section of risers to maximize dance floor space. Four days later, he ripped out a wall to make room for the new stage. The day after that, he shared, “The kindness of strangers never seems to fail to amaze me! The caretaker of the cemetery next to the church I bought was kind enough to let me borrow his riding mower. Then it started pouring down raining and a local landscaping company saw I was struggling, so they pulled over and started helping me mow/trim in the rain! How awesome is that?”
Insco predicts it will take more than six months to finish the renovations. And while he says there’s a learning curve with every part of the project, “I’m going into this with the attitude of if there is a will, there is a way.”
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