Building Update and Renovation
The First Objective
Renovate our existing building to bring it up to current standards and meet the needs of our ministries and community throughout this next season.
Create a space where guests are welcomed and are able to connect with others.
Right now, we have a very disjointed and closed off building. Someone can come in the back door, and leave through the back door… and we never meet them or engage with them.
Create a safe and secure kids ministry area.
We currently have multiple entrances and exits close to our kids ministry. This makes it easy for kids to leave the building and strangers to enter the building without anyone knowing.
Bring all staff offices into a single location in the building.
The staff offices are currently spread out all over the building. To create an environment that fosters community, closeness, unity, and security, we need to address our office space.
The Second Objective
Keep in mind future growth and development. This proposed renovation will continue to work for Central even if we decide to do more development in the future.
The placement of the existing building on the property is not ideal. We have all this great land and this large parking lot…but our main entrance is so far from it. If some day we outgrew this auditorium, we could build a new auditorium and foyer on the North West side of the building and continue to have the office space and a large kids ministry wing.
The Proposed Plan
This puts all the staff in one centralized location during the workweek and limits access to the building as the door would be secured and monitored directly by Pam.
This will be the new nursery. The existing wall would be moved to make it larger, and the entrance would be closer to the auditorium. The floor would be raised to make it accessible.
There will be a new ramp built where the stairs are currently to make the classrooms and Chamberlain hall accessible without travelling through the sanctuary.
This space will be the new staff room/ meeting space, board room, community space, etc. It includes a small kitchenette for staff to use during the week.
The existing resource room becomes a new kids ministry classroom.
Note: The kids ministry wing will be locked down on Sundays. All exterior entry doors will be locked. People will be directed to use the front main entrance. Doors to the kids wing from the hall would be locked as well to limit access.
The foyer would be expanded by pushing the west wall of the overflow back (west) and by removing John’s office, Pam’s office, and the copy room to make them part of the foyer. This provides more room in the foyer and allows for a café area to be added. We will also replace the single entrance doors with double front entrance doors. Since this will now be the main entrance on Sundays, it will allow traffic to flow in and out more easily.
The west overflow will have glass doors/wall separating it from the foyer. A new quiet room/nursing room will also be added. The current electrical room will become a new VPU room. The sound booth will be moved to a more suitable location for mixing while also opening the back aisle for better traffic flow. The east overflow would then be opened up fully for seating. New carpet throughout the auditorium as well.
The car port will receive new fascia, soffit, lighting, and signage. The sidewalk from the parking lot will be redone with lighting added to make it safer and more accessible.
The Finances
Option 1
$500,000 Proposed Budget
$200,000 Down Payment
$100,000 Fundraising Campaign
$200,000 Mortgage ($27,000 Annual Payments)
This option would require little or no departmental budget decreases to meet monthly payments.
Option 2
$500,000 Proposed Budget
$200,000 Down Payment
$300,000 Mortgage ($40,000 Annual Payments)
This option would require departmental budget decreases to meet monthly payments.
If you would like to give to this building project, there are are many ways to do so. Online, using etransfer, my mail, or in person using cash/cheque/debit. Be sure to mark your donation for the building fund.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there going to be a bathroom in the new nursery?
The committee discussed this and based upon our protection policy (workers don’t take kids to the bathroom) the committee felt that having the fully equipped bathroom right across the hall; there was no need for a full bathroom in the new nursery. We did put a change station with a sink in the corner close to the entrance for parents who need it. It will also limit parents walking through the nursery.
What is the cost estimate that has been received from Dickinson & Hicks Architects?
Here is an attached document of the rough cost estimate that was quoted by one of Dickinson & Hicks associates. Please remember that this is a rough draft in order to give us a figure. We were told it was quoted high to eliminate surprises down the road…however, with today’s volatile market, we can’t be 100% sure what the quotes will come back.
If this plan is approved, we will move towards tendering the job out to get quotes. If those quotes come back higher than expected, we would call another members meeting to present the new information and decide on the process.
If the current resource room is turned into a classroom, where will the stuff in the resource room be stored?
The plan is to re-purpose and re-organize the existing storage and move it to the back walls in one or both of the classrooms off the Chamberlain Hall. This will put those resources closer to the main children’s ministry area where they are most often needed.
Are there any plans for dealing with the parking lot. How will we handle fixing the parking lot in 3-5 years if we take on this debt? Should we consider adding the parking lot costs to this reno project?
We have had conversations about the parking lot, and are aware that it will need to be addressed in the next 3-5 years. We hope that we will be able to work down this mortgage, within those years, so that when we need to do the driveway, we will be able to get the mortgage to do it.
There was talk about adding it to the reno costs with this project, but felt that doing the work in stages (building, then parking lot) might be best. If the members would like to consider adding the driveway to the cost of this reno, they could propose that.
Do we have to do the whole reno at once? Ie. can we raise $100k now, use the $200k in cash and do what we can with $300k and then in a few years do the remaining work?
We do not have to do the whole reno at once, but from a practical standpoint, it is easiest to do all the work at once. Once you get in the reno mode and work/church life is disrupted, sometimes it’s best to do it all in one big push instead of a bunch of small disruptions. Plus, some of the work is connected and needs to be done altogether.
Will there be electrical accessible doors? i.e. touch pads at doors for our people with disabilities.
Yes, all new outside doors will have them. This will be a great time to bring our building up to these standards, and if I am correct, that will be required of us from the building department, as it is code.
I agree there are too many entry points and they must be closed off for safety reasons and in doing this, I assume that fire exits will still be in place and taken very much into consideration.
Yes, when we say “closed off” we simple mean locked from the outside on Sundays, so people can’t use them to get in. They will still function as fire exits and be fully used as such if needed. All local fire codes will continue to be met.
What is the mortgage term? What are the interest rates and conditions that these payments are based on? What would it take to change the percentage raised before construction starts from 60% to 80%?
The mortgage term that the calculations were based on is a 10-year mortgage. The interest rate that was used was 6.04%.
As for changing the percentage raised, members can choose to vote the proposed renovation, along with the budget down. Once it is voted down, members or the board would be free to propose an alternate option.
The statement that $27000 dollars will not likely decrease programs….Is the budgeting process changing? Is the church leadership expecting donations to go up that $27000 a year? Was that $27000 in the budget that was never used? How can we spend $27000 more a year without something changing?
No, the budgeting process is not changing. Yes, we are believing that we will see growth spiritually, numerically, and financially as we move forward by God’s grace. However, the reason we do not have to change the budget with a $27000 annual mortgage is that we relocated certain budget lines that fit in with the reno.
The 2022 budget was showing and $8000 cash surplus. We then took the $5000 from the “Future Development” line and the $15000 from the “Building” line. Add those together and we have $28000 to work with to pay the annual mortgage of $27000 if we raise the $100000….without cutting ministry budgets.
Still Have Questions?
Ask a question using the form below or contact the church office at 519-846-0272.