FACILITIES PLAN UPDATE
Vision for Our Future: Investing in God’s Work

Well, it’s fall and we’ve pulled the dock out of Lake Ansby. In fact, we “drained” the entire lake! As reported in the September issue of Interpretation, Phase I of our Master Facilities Plan concluded with the installation of a new storm water drainage system to address the accumulation of water in the parking lot on the Ansby Hall side of the church and the collapsed, underground drainage pipes from the downspouts and window wells. No more swimming in summer or skating in winter!

The cost of the drainage system was $260,000. Additional costs were incurred for paving the driveway and for including the manse downspouts and drains and a larger pipeline to the White House within the scope of the work while the equipment was on site. These additions brought the total cost to $321,296, which was paid with undesignated capital campaign money already received. This drainage work was scheduled to be done in the final phase of the facilities plan, but the Property Committee felt it was important to move it up in the schedule to protect the exterior work accomplished in Phase I of the plan.

The deferred maintenance work alone cost $1,328,172. It was paid for with capital campaign funds and with a draw on non-restricted endowment funds. Session approved the Finance Committee’s recommendation to pay back the $679,000 that was borrowed from the Endowment Fund at a rate of $100,000 every six months. By way of review, the work to date has included the following:

- Repair of church roof, gutters, and downspouts
- Repair and painting of steeple and new steeple roof
- Restoration, repointing, and cleaning of exterior stone
- Sanctuary repair and restoration including new flooring
- Air conditioning of sanctuary
- Fiber-optic review of downspout and window well drains
- Storm water drainage system and driveway paving.

Related Phase I improvements, paid for by other sources, were the new pew cushions provided by the Presbyterian Women’s Association, air conditioning of the sanctuary from the air conditioning fund, and organ disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly paid from the organ maintenance fund. Architect fees to date total $131,895 from their initial work on the master plan through the deferred maintenance and storm water projects. Any questions on the work completed to date should be directed to Tom Graham, chair of the church Property Committee.

The next phase of the long-range Master Facilities Plan addresses renovating our existing church building. There are many needs to be addressed by this phase of the plan, especially for our children and members with physical limitations.