A United Way organization in central Indiana is ready to start rebuilding its headquarters that was destroyed in a Christmas Eve fire and hopes to have the nonprofit groups that shared the building move back in early next year.

United Way of Bartholomew County has received a $5 million insurance settlement that will pay for much of the work on the Columbus building.

"The insurance settlement has really allowed us to turn the corner," United Way chapter President Doug Otto said. "It's been pretty much walking on egg shells around here."

Construction work is expected to start about April 1 and be finished in mid-December, said Chuck Corbin, a vice president of contractor Dunlap & Co. of Columbus.

The rebuilt structure will be slightly smaller than the previous building because a second-floor section of office space will be demolished.

"We will do everything as general contractor to basically put the building back somewhat the way it was, less a part of the second floor," Corbin said.

More than two dozen social service groups and other agencies used space in the building before the fire. Some agencies are operating in temporary offices, while others are working in one of the undamaged buildings in the United Way Center complex in the city about 40 miles south of Indianapolis.

Otto said the United Way hoped to have all the agencies return to the headquarters in January.

Other insurance policies for contents and loss of business will cover costs for replacing office furniture and supplies, Otto said.

"When all is said and done, with all the changes that are made, we may be better off than we were," he said.

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