“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”  -Eleanor Roosevelt, US diplomat and reformer (1884 – 1962)

We’ve reached a plateau!  Ta Dah!  The Master Planning portion of the Building Committee’s work is completed.  I hope you heard the report from our chairman, Larry Phillips, that described this portion of our work.  If not, a written summary is here on the web site in the September Building Committee report.

We want to thank all of you who stopped in the atrium to look at the initial plans and to ask questions or comment on the ideas presented.  The input from our congregation is paramont in importance in deciding what ultimately will be built, so please stay in touch.  Talk to any of the committee members or contact us via email (building(at)cumcnormal.org).

Questions and Answers
The following is meant to emphasize or further explain some things that came up during those atrium conversations.  Hope you find this helpful.

How soon can we get started building? 

It is really too early to answer this question right now.  We all want this building phase to be successful, and in order to help ensure that success, there are a number of things identified by the consultants and our own members, that need to be in place before building begins.  Financing, of course, is a part of that, but not the only thing.  We are also sensitive to current economic times and that is another consideration.  So, we’re looking ahead and working on a number of things, but there is no set timeline and we are not committed to any dollar figures yet.  It is really about being good stewards of our time and resources to move ahead only when all the pieces are in place.

How will our financing work?

We need just a bit of history for this.  Prior to the building this church, Calvary held a capital campaign to raise money to begin our project.  The proceeds from that campaign were used to purchase our 20 acre site, to pay related costs and early architectural costs,  and the rest was put toward the building itself.  A following campaign raised funds that, combined with loans, went toward building costs.  Now, as we look toward a building addition, the same thing is happening.  The current capital campaign results have paid for the additional adjacent 20 acres of land, are providing seed money for building planning and building funds for the future.  After that campaign ends in early 2010, another fund-raising effort will be formed to address building expenses and related needs with loans involved as needed.

Will we add more parking?

Most definitely YES!  The plan is now that about 400 parking spaces will be added, and some of those will be nearer the new sanctuary door than our spaces are now to the main entrance.  A smaller parking area, which may be built now or later, is also planned near the entrance to the multi-purpose facility.  Traffic flow certainly will be a consideration as new parking areas are planned.

Will there be any additional Sunday school space? 

We do need more Sunday School capacity and, while it isn’t apparent in some of these early drawings, more space will be available.  First, the new multi-purpose room will provide space for classes.  But that’s not all.  (Sorry, don’t mean to sound like a late night infomercial!)  Other areas of “re-purposed” space will also be available for classes, such as our current worship center. 

That doesn’t sound like much additional space.  Will it be enough?

When we need more space, programming and timing changes will make a major difference.  That’s a cost-efficient approach to eliminate some of the need for building and it offers more choices for the congregation.  Calvary is looking toward to offering Sunday School during two different worship times in the future, better using the facilities that we already have.

Why is the proposed sanctuary sited in a different place than planned earlier?

During the planning time for our original building, it was thought that the sanctuary would be accessed through what is now the large window in the atrium facing northeast but that thinking has changed for three major reasons. 
1)Since that original plan was made, Calvary has purchased 20 additional acres to the east of the original acreage.  This proposed new location of the sanctuary offers better possibilities to utilize all the land we own, now and in the future.
2)We can save significant dollars by locating the sanctuary south of the present youth room…again, that good steward factor. 
3)Also, the sanctuary is more visible in this new location and that is felt to be important.

If the sanctuary is to be built at the south end of our current structure, what will happen to the large window in the atrium?

That window will remain for now.  The multi-purpose room will be built out in that direction and be accessible either thru its own entrance or through the lower level of our current building.  That area can be enlarged in a future building phase.

It is important to emphasize that the plans presented so far are just for a Master Plan and are not at all detailed.  Our next work will begin detailed planning for the coming building phase.  Exciting stuff!  Check back here next month for the latest info from the Building Committee.  Committee members are going on church visits to help us visualize what our new church might look like and to look for good ideas to borrow.  Learning from others, as Eleanor Roosevelt said, will add a lot to our possibilities.

Betty Dorsey
Building Committee Vice Chairperson

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