Feb. 2007 - Parish Hall Work ____________________________________________________________________________________________
 

In 2006 we used the New Parish House “Wish List” that was developed in 2005 as a basis for developing a conceptual picture of the New Parish House and as a tool in assisting us in our search for an Architect that can best put this concept into reality.

John Bernard took our list and after some very hard work was able to translate the information into a floor plan and a rendering of what the building might look like. He then made several modifications, and reduced the floor plan to a more affordable size. Our original site for the building was the lawn in front of the Blue House so it was important to make everything fit.

As the year progressed we began to consider the grassy area behind the Rectory as an alternative. The site poses different problems and John adapted his work to fit.

Meanwhile John and I gathered names of architects.  Among the names, half were recommended to us from members of the parish. Our objective was to find someone who could design a building that would meld well with our property. We are looking to have a building that complements our church structure and may have some of the gothic flavor of the current parish house. At the same time we want the building to be as energy efficient as possible.  We began interviewing each of the six candidates. Our criteria were to understand how they approach a project like ours, learn what projects they have done, and determine how involved they would be during all parts of the project from design to construction and completion. Also we wanted to learn who would be the one that we could work best with.

A committee consisting of the Rector, Scott Ivers, Carol Bentel, an architect friend of the parish, John Bernard and myself met to pick the most promising candidates. John and I visited the sites of the three that were chosen. We returned to the committee with pictures and a further report. At that point the committee chose our top candidate.

Because of the complexity of the sale of a portion of our property nothing more has been accomplished. Where our parish house will be situated will be determined by what plot of land will be sold. Once we know where the building will be and we have funds coming in we can begin to move ahead.

John Bernard’s tremendous efforts have put us in a great position to move forward. He has given us two wonderful building concepts, one for each site His efforts will allow us to move forward quickly once we ready.

 

 

 

6 February 2007