Slow Rebuild Of Historic Bronzeville Church Has Donors Frustrated

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Nine years ago, a fire lit up the sky and gutted the historic Pilgrim Baptist Church, but now there's a new fire brewing at the Bronzeville place of worship, this one within the membership.

The slow-going process to rebuild has some asking for donation refunds. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports on this original story and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in question.

When Pilgrim Baptist, Howard Medley's church home for 70 years, burned in 2006, the successful businessman donated $50,000.

"We all got together and said we were gonna rebuild," Medley said.

But in nine years, nothing has happened, so last year Medley wrote two letters demanding his "$50,000 be returned to me as soon as possible."

"I couldn't believe they had the unmitigated gall to not give me the request," he said. "Since we're not building, I don't see any permits…why should they hold my money?"

The church collected thousands in donations after the fire. In fact, according to 2007 and 2008 tax records, the Pritzker Foundation donated more than $400,000. A church financial report from 2013 shows more than $1.6 million in the "rebuilding fund."

Member Isaac Whitman hasn't donated nearly as much as Medley, but he too is unhappy about the stalled building plans. In December the former IRS auditor filed papers asking the circuit courts to force the church to give the membership more detailed accounting.

"It doesn't say who the money was paid too, it's just a total figure," he said.

Church trustee Cynthia Jones who refused to talk about the church finances in the past, declined an interview today.

"It's important to determine whether or not there was waste, fraud and abuse," Whitman said.

Whitman is back in court on Friday, asking for the courts to appoint a receivership and audit the books dating back to the fire in 2006. In the meantime, Medley continues to wait for his money.