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Sumertime!We're doing the SICM summer lunch in the week of July 4th this year. The colunteers are all lined up and ready to go! We will be sending our largest group ever for summer work camp. This time we go to Maine! The send-off is 7:30 am July 11. Join the party and see our people off! Picture below! Vacation Bible School is off and running! We have over 40 kids. This is a cooperative venture with Union Presbyterian Church. |
Sundays: How to get to St. Stephen's Church The Rev. James McDonald, Rector See our calendar page
New Parish Hall plans! |
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 Kazakstahn... The Crates Story |
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Vestry Votes to Build New Parish Hall & Classrooms The new parish hall will be a one-story L-shaped building. The Garner Avenue entrance will be at the same level as the church with outside stairs leading to street level. All entrances to the new building will be handicap accessible. The estimated cost is $2.2 million. It will be funded by a mortgage based on the Begley/Phillips bequests plus a parish-wide capital funds drive for $300,000. The decision was made to move ahead now in order to take advantage of the economic conditions and the resulting lower building costs. In the four year study of the future needs of the parish, the Parish Hall was identified as a primary concern to members of the congregation. The rectory and the existing parish hall were both built in 1957. An addition to the back of the parish hall was added in 1977. The hall is a concrete block structure, built into a 4 ft. slope in the land. Numerous problems have been identified through various surveys of the congregation and church groups. It is the "least liked" of all our facilities. It looks shabby and does not present a welcoming feeling. Among other findings, a dedicated meeting area /lounge for adult education was strongly desired. The new building is designed on one floor to avoid the water problems. It will be constructed to modern energy efficient standards. It is estimated that this will reduce heating costs by 20% - 30%.
From the Garner Avenue entrance one enters the nave extension which contains two handicap accessible toilets and a coat room. A new architecturally appropriate divider will be built between the church nave and the extension removing the notorious green curtains. A nursery is the next room off the nave extension and is readily accessible from the courtyard or the church. To meet the desires of the congregation, an adult education and library room is located looking out over the courtyard. It is intended that this room be a comfortable room for small meetings as well as Sunday adult education. The traffic patterns of the new building are such that adult education will not be interrupted by people arriving for service. To provide additional meeting space, another medium size meeting room is across the corridor. In consultation with the Sunday school director, the new building has four classrooms. It is planned to have storage along the corridors for school supplies. A separate teen lounge is located in the corner of the building. Two additional toilets have been included. The outside entrance from the parking lot to the new building will be handicap accessible and covered to allow protected discharge of passengers. The wing of the new building houses the parish hall and kitchen. The parish hall will be about the same size as the current one. It will also look out onto the courtyard. Sliding glass doors will make easy access in good weather to the courtyard from both the parish hall and the adult education room. While the square feet of the new kitchen will be similar to the square feet of the old, the new shape and arrangement will make it much easier to use. All of the new building will be air-conditioned. The total square footage is approximately the same as the combined two floors of the existing building. The estimated cost of $2.2 million assumes a building built for the long term. It will have a steel frame. The exterior will be stucco. It will be energy-efficient with insulated walls 10"-12" thick and triple pane windows. It should be noted that the $2.2 million will not be spent at once, but rather spread over the next two years. The Vestry spent considerable time determining how the new building could be funded. The Vestry decided to invest the money in a mortgage to keep the corpus of the endowment fund intact. The remaining endowment fund will be approximately what it was before the Church received the Begley/Phillips bequests. A capital funds drive will give members and friends of St. Stephen's an opportunity to invest in the new building. It will provide a more attractive environment which will hopefully attract new people. To minimize the risk of exceeding the budget, the design and construction costs will be carefully monitored. If necessary, volunteers will be enlisted to complete some of the areas. The vestry has taken a leap of faith, but will need the help of everyone by becoming actively involved. The vestry is looking for an active church - one where the congregation is energized and involved not only within the church, but also reaches out to the community. While the new building will positively impact the operating budget by saving energy, we also see the congregation becoming more involved in stewardship through pledging their time and talents. The new building will allow us to have a clean, new, welcoming space both for the members of the congregation as well as the local community.
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