The Facilities

Q. How long will we be under construction?

Construction will begin shortly after building permits are granted. Although many proposed projects will be completed at various times, the entire process is still in the planning phase.

Q. How will these investments in the building enrich our life as a congregation?

By improving our spiritual home, we anchor and solidify our congregation's ability to reach upward. With improved spaces for fellowship, we strengthen our outreach. With solid, well-maintained buildings, we help ensure that property maintenance will be lower for future generations.

Q. How green is this plan?

A single hot water heating system will replace current ones; therefore, temperatures can be set dependent on usage throughout the three buildings. Thus, we can be environmentally friendly at the same time we lower energy costs and increase comfort levels. Within the past few years, high-energy windows have been installed throughout the building.

Q. How will the church facilities become more handicapped accessible and traffic flow eased?

A primary goal of this campaign is to make the entire church facility accessible. People should be able to get to any location within our structure without needing to navigate steps. The first and second floors of the parish house will be reconfigured to ease movement among the three buildings through ramps, elevators, and a lift. The education building will be fully accessible through the new elevator. More parking spaces will be allocated to handicapped parking near the Arnold Park entrance which will become the main entrance for the physically challenged. An enclosed and heated cloister will connect the chapel with the rear of the sanctuary. Throughout the building, handrails will meet the current safety code.

Q. Why are we creating the cloister/garth area?

Now, the chapel is difficult to access from the rest of the church. One leg of the L-shaped enclosed and heated cloister will connect entrances between the chapel and the sanctuary, and the other leg will connect the chapel to the garth lobby. Wheelchair users will now be able to proceed from the Arnold Park lot through the cloister into either the sanctuary or the chapel. Also, no longer will inclement weather limit movement among the sanctuary, chapel, and education buildings.

Q. Will the exterior of the new facility blend with the old?

Yes. The cloister addition and the renovation of the Meigs Street entrance will look like the existing building.

Q. Why change the Meigs Street entrance?

The exterior and interior need to function as the de facto main entrance to the church. Outside, it will look like the East Avenue-Meigs Street entrance. Inside, the vestibule and stairs will be widened to help the traffic flow to the sanctuary, Johnston Hall, and the Celebration Center.

Q. Why renovate the sanctuary?

Worship is central to the life of this congregation. Everything else we do grows from the community in worship. As present day stewards of this wonderful worship space, rich in history and tradition, it is our honor and responsibility to help ensure that future generations will experience meaningful worship in this place.

The sanctuary, finished in 1893, was modified in the early 1950s, with the addition of a divided chancel. Other than post-fire repair in the late 1980s, it has received no major attention in almost 60 years. In that time, our worship patterns have evolved significantly. The numbers of persons involved in worship leadership, especially in singing and ringing choirs, as well as the participation level of the congregation, have increased to the point that the current space is outmoded for our worship services. Among the goals of renovation are to improve visibility, audibility, and accessibility within the sanctuary so that the congregation, clergy, and choir can have an enhanced worship experience as equal partners, an experience that is now limited by the outmoded space.

Q. How will the sanctuary be renovated?

The renovations will accentuate its exquisite architecture and will update all mechanical, lighting, and sound systems. The renovated nave will have more seating, better sightlines, lighting, sound, and increased handicapped accessibility, including access to the chancel platform. Pews will be refurbished. The floor and walls will be strengthened, with a new floor surface to enhance congregational prayer and singing. In the chancel, all the furniture will be moveable: pulpit, lectern, communion table, baptismal font, choir chairs, organ console. Since the entire chancel area will be elevated, special worship events such as youth musicals and the Boar's Head Festival can be mounted without additional staging, and major choral works with orchestra may be presented without additional risers for the choir. Click here to see Peter DuBois' PowerPoint presentation and text.

Q. What needs to be done in the chapel?

The chapel is structurally sound, but it needs some attention to its fabric to ensure that it will continue to meet our worship needs for decades to come. These improvements include a new sound system, better lighting, restored pews, and replacement of some deteriorating floor tiles.

Q. What work needs to be accomplished relative to the organs?

The sanctuary and chapel organs are both well over fifty years old. At this point in their life, they are both in need of normal, but significant, mechanical restoration to ensure their reliable service for the next fifty years.

CHAPEL ORGAN
The Aeolian-Skinner organ in the chapel, installed in 1954, is a real treasure, and is considered by many in our community and by national experts to be an excellent example of that firm's work - the finest organ building in this country in the mid-twentieth century. For that reason, no structural or tonal changes are proposed, but rather restoration of mechanical parts that deteriorate naturally over time-particularly leather components. In recent years, an increasing amount of patching of leather and repair of other components has been necessary. By undertaking this restoration now, we can enjoy the continued use of the organ for many years without experiencing major mechanical failure of the instrument.

SANCTUARY ORGAN
The Austin Organ in the sanctuary has served this congregation well as an instrument leading worshippers in the praise of God for over fifty-five years. Like the organ in the chapel, it is in need of the kind of mechanical refurbishment that is normal for instruments of this age. A significant portion of the work needed includes renewing the mechanical components that allow wind into the pipes, as well as the wind system itself. This instrument, however, is approximately five times the size of the chapel instrument, so the cost for this refurbishment is proportional. In addition to this basic work, there are a number of changes needed to bring the connection between the console and the pipes up to today's standards of efficiency and reliability.

Although this instrument is well-suited to supporting congregational singing and accompanying the choir, in its present placement within the chancel, its effectiveness is significantly impaired. With the proposed structural changes to the chancel, the sound of the instrument will move more freely into the nave to support and enliven congregational singing, and better meet the needs of the choir as well. Alterations to the physical layout of the organ pipes and windchests, a new and smaller console placed in its optimal location in the chancel, and tonal adjustments to make the instrument work most effectively in the renovated sanctuary comprise the remainder of the work to be accomplished. While the work proposed is significant, it is indeed more economical than contemplating an entirely new organ, and will result in an instrument that will meet our needs with distinction for years to come.

Q. Why renovate the kitchen/Celebration Center?

The heavily-used, antiquated kitchen and Celebration Center need to be upgraded and realigned to seat up to 250 people, well beyond the current capacity. Many groups such as the Dining Room Ministry, the Food Cupboard, Qabats, and the scouts need secure storage. The renovated space would enable different groups to meet at the same time.

Q. Do you still have questions about the facilities?

Click here to email a member of the a campaign cabinet.