Members of the Laurel Alcoholics Anonymous community could soon have a new centralized place to attend 12-step meetings — an effort that began after a building used by the recovery community burned down late last year.

Laurel Recovery, the city’s oldest continuous 12-step group since its founding 55 years ago, had been holding 20 AA meetings a week in an upstairs room at 368 Main St. before a fire blazed through the building on Dec. 12. The building’s owner, Bruce Behnami of Montgomery County, said the fire was sparked by a malfunctioning bathroom fan.

Since then, Laurel Recovery has been able to arrange only two in-person meetings a week — one at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and one in Greenbelt. It also has arranged eight weekly online meetings. But many of its hundreds of members have had to look elsewhere for recovery support.

Amanda Berard hopes to change that.

Last month, Berard, who had attended Laurel Recovery meetings for 30 years, noticed activity inside a building at 520 Montgomery St. The building once housed a dry-cleaning business but had been vacant for 16 years. A worker told her that Nadol Hishmeh, owner of Olive on Main restaurant, had purchased the building and was rehabilitating it as a commercial rental property.

Berard asked Hishmeh whether he would consider renting the building to the recovery group. Hishmeh liked the idea.

“It’s a good thing for the city,” he said in an interview.

Berard and several other members of Laurel Recovery are now forming a nonprofit organization that can accept donations toward rental and maintenance expenses. The plan also includes creating a club for recovery members who would pay a $60 annual membership fee and renting meeting space to other 12-step groups.

She and others involved in setting up the nonprofit envision a renovated building with a common area, a kitchen, bathrooms and four meeting rooms.

“We need community support,” she said. “I need our AA community to support the club.”

The Maryland General Assembly may help move the project forward.

Berard contacted state Del. Mary Lehman of Laurel (District 21) about a possible state grant to finance the building’s renovation. Lehman said she enlisted a crucial District 21 colleague, Del. Ben Barnes, who, as chair of the House Appropriations Committee, has outsize influence on state budgeting.

“He was immediately enthusiastic,” Lehman said.

The delegates have proposed a $500,000 appropriation for renovation costs, contingent on the nonprofit securing a 15-year lease from Hishmeh. Lehman said the appropriation has a “very, very strong probability” of approval when the annual state budget is passed between late March and mid-April.

Hishmeh said he was glad to give the nonprofit a 15-year lease.

“It could be a win-win for everybody,” he said.

Fire damage repair delayed

Behnami, who formerly owned a computer repair shop in Takoma Park, said he will repair his Main Street building but has been delayed by financing complications.

Other tenants who were in the building have made various plans:

Rainbow Florist and Delectables plans to reopen there when the building is repaired, said owner Judy Ashwell.

The Wellness NPs, an agency of nurse practitioners that provides weight loss programs and other health services, has temporarily relocated to 9658 Baltimore Ave. in College Park, said manager Taneisha Wright.

“We do want to return to the Laurel area,” she said.

Hilton Nails has ceased operations for now, said owner Alex Ho.

As for reopening when the building is repaired, he said, “I don’t know yet.”