Time for another update on the Entry project. Council met May 22 with Sue Lani Madsen, our architect. Sue Lani had brought out the drawings so far, and there are lots of questions. Sue Lani and Dan Jordan, a structural engineer, looked at our building and did some poking around and we have discovered that we must maintain the support of the bell tower and steeple, so the plans we had looked at before have been modified. The new plans show that coming into the front doors, the stairs go straight up to the sanctuary, instead of going around to the right and up. The lift, large enough for a person in a wheelchair and an attendant, will be to the left (east) of the steps going up – about where the garbage box is now on the outside. Stairs to the basement would go down and around to the west of the main stairs. An ADA (handicap-accessible) restroom can be put in the basement in the northwest corner and another restroom can be put upstairs in the northwest corner – about where the coat closet is now upstairs.
The drawings we have now are rather preliminary, as we try to fit everything into the space we have. We can build right to the sidewalk, and that is the area we are looking at if you completely remove the front steps. As soon as we have good talking drawings, we will bring them to the congregation for discussion.
In order for Sue Lani to get a comfortable rise to the steps inside the new entry, we may have to ask the city of Reardan if we can raise the sidewalk out front and gradually slope it both to the south and to the east.
Some exciting ideas have surfaced in planning this project. Sue Lani has told us that because of the age of our building and because the remodels that have been done did not compromise the original building, we may be candidates for Historical Building designation. The council gave her permission to investigate what that would mean, as far as what we can do and what we cannot do. It might also make us eligible for some grants for keeping up our wonderful old building. We will keep you informed as this progresses.
Another possible change in order to keep two clear exits to/from the basement for the Child Center might be to open the east wall in the basement and get a start on the Fellowship Terrace with a slider or French door going out to a new sidewalk running down the side of the building, serving both the new door from the Fellowship Hall and the door at the back that is the usual main entrance for the Child Center.
A very, very preliminary schedule for the project starts with demolition next April, and construction through the summer. If it looks like we can do it in that time-frame, we will have time to contact some of the groups of retired contractors who spend their summers doing this very kind of thing – helping congregations with improvement projects. Lutherhaven’s new dining hall was mostly built by volunteer retired contractors who spent their summer at Lutherhaven. We want to check this out. Now, working backwards, we need to think about preparation for the demolition and construction. The trees and bulbs in the front flower beds will need to be moved – possibly this fall. Probably we can get rid of the garbage collection area right outside the building, since we now have the dumpster across the street.
The Council is looking at how we can do this project in stages and we have to hire out, and what we can do for ourselves, to keep it reasonable and affordable. We are looking at all the angles we can. There will be lots of opportunities for volunteer work if you would like to be involved and have skills that we need.
If you have any questions or comments, be sure to track down a Council member and share your ideas. This is getting exciting!In Christ,
Claudia Holtz and your Council |
