Happy New Year!  We welcome 2008 and celebrate all the abundance we have at Ascension! 

December was a busy month around the church and in spite of busy schedules, we did make some progress on the building project! 

A look back:  At the all-congregation meeting in the fall of 2007, 3 of 4 people present voted to move forward and get the necessary drawings to let the expansion project to bid and get a firm cost of the project.   With these instructions from the membership, the building project team went to work with the architects to complete the design phase and get a firm bid.   Projected timeline:  spring 2008.

As presented at that congregational meeting, the project scope had been redefined to address the education wing, music and storage facilities only. The fellowship addition was eliminated from the concept drawings.   With approval to go forward into the next phase, the building project team contacted the architects with the revised plan.   Understanding the reasoning behind the revision in the project, the architects asked for and received additional time to analyze the specific costs associated with including the fellowship area and how that square footage affected the overall project cost.  They completed this analysis the end of December.   

The architects and their consultants agreed that Ascension could choose to add the fellowship square footage back into the overall expansion plan for a relatively low dollar amount.  They estimated that for $300,000, or only 15% of the total construction budget, we could expand the fellowship space, include a large music room and storage facilities with outside access.   The architects had established that for a small amount, relatively speaking, Ascension could have 7700 additional square feet of fellowship area and meet a greater number of needs now instead of waiting to address this expansion in a future phase.   With that information, the building project team made the recommendation to the council that the project be designed and bid to include the fellowship space.   The church council voted in January to include the fellowship space in the building project and get a bid that represented this decision. 

Month of January: The building project team met with the architects on January 18^th.   At the meeting, the architects presented the latest conceptual floor plan of the proposed addition, including:  1)  2-story education wing  2)  music room  3)  storage spaces  4) Larson library   5)  bookstore  6) covered entrance and 7) exterior elevations.     You are encouraged to view the plans at the church.  A 3-D model of the project will be completed by the end of the month to further represent the project.  It will be in the Fireside area. 

Looking to the future:   So, what’s the next step?  Well, there are several actually.    Soon, the folks who will be working and functioning in each of spaces/rooms will be working with the architects on the details of the spaces.   What needs to be in each classroom?   Where does the sink need to be located?   What is the floor covering?   How much shelving storage v. closet storage will need to be included?    What is the traffic flow?  It is important that the folks who use the music room, the fellowship hall and the classrooms are intimately involved in these kinds of decisions.    Pastor David is heading up this group.   Once this layer of detail is completed, we move one step closer to completing construction documents and getting some actual bids on the project. 

Council wants to have an informational session soon with the congregation.  Watch for a meeting opportunity and bring your questions.    It will probably be scheduled in early March.   

Catherine and Maria are co-chairing the fundraising team and have begun contacting additional team members.   Again, watch for more information on the bulletin board across from the church office.   

In service,  The Building Project Team