Building Our Faith
Building Update – THE WORK HAS STARTED
By: Pastor Tim Carson
Last March, the building Committee presented our plans for a 24,000 sq. foot multi-purpose building. In those presentations, we laid out the need and the plan, then asked for feedback from the Congregation. We received 286 overwhelmingly positive responses. However, there was an undercurrent running through those responses, of concern for the cost and scope of the project.
“We need to grow in phases by what is needed most without creating a massive amount of debt.”
After much deliberation, the Building Committee decided to present a phased plan. The problem, of course, was that it was impossible to phase the original design. So, we redesigned and asked ourselves, “What are our most pressing needs?” Classroom space was the easy answer. But, as the conversation progressed, we realized we could address several other important deficiencies in the church with phase one.
Here are the three big things Phase I does:
1. It provides a new Children’s Wing that is in the same building as the Sanctuary.
2. It moves the entrance of the church to face 41and provides a covered portico for the entrance.
3. It addresses our undersized Narthex, giving us a new gathering space.
THE PLAN:
• Connect Phase I to the current Sanctuary building at the exit at the end of the hall on the southwest corner, and at what is currently Pastor John’s office door.
• Add 11,686sqft. of classroom, narthex, and office space, including three large, dividable classrooms.
• Provide an enclosed “Children’s Garden” that would house playground equipment in a secure enclosed area.
• Allow for the renovation of the existing office wing.
• Allow for the renovation of the existing Children’s Building. (The idea is that it would become our youth room.)
THE COST:
The cost estimates are for a $4.332 million dollar project.
Some notes on the cost:
• One of the big issues we have wrestled with in this building project is building something so small that we will have outgrown it before we move in, or building something so big that our whole focus is not on ministry but paying the debt. We feel this project places us in the middle of those two extremes.
• We have $800,000 in site work that we will be required to do by the Village of Estero, Lee County, and Southwest Florida Water Management District on our property no matter what we build. We will have minimal site costs for subsequent phases.
Building Cost $2,742,000. (Building and Construction)
Site Work $800,000. (Sewer, Water Retention, Landscaping, Parking)
All Fees $350,000. (Architect, Engineering, Impact, Permitting)
F.F.&E. $120,000. (Furniture, Fixtures, And Equipment)
Renovations $80,000. (Renovate Existing Offices and Children’s Building)
Reno & Cont $240,000. (Renovations and Contingency Costs)
Total Cost $4,332,000.
THE WAY FORWARD:
EUMC will begin a Capital Campaign this winter.
