By Brad King , Chairman, Leadership Board

This month, Pastor Todd and I are writing about our facility and the future. Several months ago, a facilities task force was formed to take inventory of our facility and recommend what we could do to make the best use of our current building. This action was in response to your input from Charting a Higher Course (CAHC) and, in particular, to one of the key objectives in CAHC; to become a church of 1200 by the year 2009. We understand that our desire as a church is to reach out more and experience half of our growth as a result of new people coming to faith. If we experience that growth, we need to know that our facility can accommodate it. 

The facilities task force identified two areas that most restrict our growth: our parking lot and the Worship Center. Last fall, we expanded the parking lot. This year we are considering the Worship Center. The Worship Center is part of the original building and, after twenty-two years, remains very true to its original design. In terms of its capacity, we know that during special events it can fit more than 500 people, but this requires folding chairs in aisles and asking people to crowd together. In reality, its capacity on a regular basis is limited to about 500.

In addition to the capacity of the space, we desire a quality worship experience for all, as well as one that draws newcomers back to Calvary. The Worship Center is the front door to our church and, as such, creates the initial impression for most people. With input from the facilities task force, we developed three potential scenarios to increase the capacity and improve the quality of our worship center. These scenarios come with three very different price tags. We believe only one of the three options makes sense for our church at this time.

One option is to “rip it off.” This would involve demolition of the worship center and gathering space, replacing it with an entirely new structure, and would cost around seven million dollars.

A second option is to relocate. This would entail selling our present building, buying land, and building a new structure. The cost for this is roughly estimated at fifteen million dollars. It is our opinion that the first two options are not viable because of their costs.

The third option, and the one that we think is most doable, is to remodel. Remodeling the Worship Center would involve the following:

• new seating, 
• re-carpeting the room,
  
• a makeover of the platform,
  
• and lighting improvements.
  

The new seating will be placed in such a manner as to give everyone a good view and, most importantly, to possibly increase the seating capacity of our existing space. Other renovations under consideration for the remainder of the building are:

• remodeling some of the bathrooms,
  
• new signage inside and out,
  
• a youth center (somewhere in the existing education wing),
  
• replacement of the multiple outside storage sheds with a single garage,
  
• and a covered canopy at the main entrance.
  

Our hope would be to have these projects completed by the start of fall ministries this year.

We believe the option to remodel is affordable. It will extend useful life of our facility and create a warm and inviting environment for visitors and regular attenders. We are still in the process of gathering estimates to determine the cost of these improvements. We estimate the total cost will be somewhere in the range of $300,000 - $500,000. While we have over $100,000 in the capital improvement fund, we would need to raise additional funds for this project. We are considering a plan that combines financing the remodeling with a pay-off of our debt. We will be holding a church business meeting after the second service on Sunday, April 22 to vote on new leadership board members and will discuss these plans with you further at that time.