Grace Church has a building now!  The sanctuary and core offices where all the plumbing and HVAC are located were built in the 1940s.  The classroom wing was built in the 1960s, and the fellowship hall was built in the 1980s. 

We had professional church building contractor/consultants go through the building end to end and give us the details on what should do first.  We all expected that the parking lot resurface would be Job #1 with a nursery and bathroom refresh to follow.  Instead we were surprised to learn that all the major mechanical, HVAC, and plumbing needs to be redone immediately.  There are 5 heating systems (with one section run by a boiler), and three of them are unsafe.  All 5 need replacing.  As a result we now have a domino effect requiring the relocation of the boiler room.  And we must also dig up the slab to repair and re-route existing plumbing.  The nursery needs to be relocated as well, with plumbing run to it for a new toddler bathroom. 

The price tag for just this mechanical work is over $100,000.  This figure does not include new paint, carpet, sanctuary soundproofing, cushions for the pews, hymnals, chairs, tables, parking lot, exterior landscaping, lawn sprinklers, or anything else!!

Work is proceeding on the major mechanical and plumbing, and the consultants now estimate the tab for a modest refurbishment, including most things mentioned above, will be about $300,000 or more.  So the fundraising will continue into the new year.

While we hoped to get into the new building to worship by Christmas, it will not be possible.  The good news is that the acoustic tiles have all been tested, and the walls and floors torn down all have yielded NO ASBESTOS to deal with!  So work to get the place habitable proceeds week by week, and we continue to meet at our current location (The Castle) in the meantime.

Please pray for us and our fundraising efforts!

View photos of the property HERE.