Proposed Renovation Plans and Options
After the Parish voted last fall
to shelve plans for a new building, due to higher-than-expected cost estimates,
the Board of Trustees asked the Building Task Force to look at ways to make the
Meetinghouse, Religious Education Wing, and Old Center Hall better serve our
space needs. Working with our architect, project manager, and cost estimator,
we are pleased to present the following ideas to the parish membership for its consideration
and feedback. We begin with our goals and assumptions.
Renovations
Planning Goals and Assumptions
We have tried to meet as many of
our original space planning objectives as possible within a significantly
smaller budget. These goals, which were
submitted by the committees and other leaders of the congregation, and collated
and presented in February 2004, included meeting the following space needs:
§
a fully accessible building
§
avoid crossing
§
multi-purpose chapel
§
expanded Parish Hall
§
larger class and meeting rooms
§
co-located staff offices
§
youth room
§
parlor/library
§
larger bathrooms
§
improved kitchen
§
storage for food pantry, coats,
tables and chairs
§
provide room for future growth
Choices among these goals need to
be made, given the constraints of the existing building configuration and a smaller
budget.
We have assumed that our
renovations budget is about $500,000. This figure excludes the purchase of Old
Center Hall, preservation work, and life-safety work that has already been
approved by the Parish, some of which has just begun. All of these items would be funded from the
Capital Campaign. Even using this budget for renovations, given current
campaign pledges, and contracted and estimated costs for this work, we
anticipate needing a mortgage and/or additional fundraising of about $500-600K
to cover everything.
We feel that our proposed plan meets
nearly all of the original goals. Whether the parish agrees with the recommendations
proposed here remains to be seen. One advantage to doing renovations, rather than
wholesale demolition and new construction, is that items we can’t afford now
could be added at a later date.
Someday, perhaps in 10 to 15 years,
the parish may decide to replace the existing R.E. wing with a new, larger
building, as we had planned at the start of our capital campaign. In light of that possibility, we have
recommended spending most of our limited resources within the existing
meetinghouse, and to limit renovations expenditures to the R.E. wing and Old
Center Hall, where practical. It may also be necessary to limit our
expenditures on Old Center Hall at this time, because we cannot afford upgrades
that a major renovation might necessitate.
A description of the proposed preliminary
plans (called “conceptual designs”) follows, along with their rationale and
options. We have included preliminary cost estimates and the building
committee’s recommendations of the plans to pursue. The sketches are posted
online at http://www.northparish.org/building/renovations and can be viewed by
clicking links in this document.
It is important to recognize that
these cost estimates are very rough. We can get more detailed cost estimates
only after architect designs to the next level of detail, called “design
development”. At this point we are
trying to reach consensus on the overall strategy and areas worth pursing (some
of the plans are independent of each other). We can then have the architect
further develop these plans, get detailed cost estimates, and only then make a
final decision about what elements of the plan to build. If we can reach
consensus soon, it is possible that work could begin later this year.
Building
Accessibility (Sketch
27)
Making the meetinghouse accessible
is consistent with our mission statement to welcome all to worship here, as
well as being required by law. One of
the original goals of the new building project was to make an entrance that all
of us, including the elderly and handicapped, could use to enter the sanctuary.
We have developed two new ideas to make the existing front entrance accessible.
Our
preferred approach is to raise the elevation in front of the church by a few
feet, and to raise the front doors, to eliminate the stairs within the
vestibule. This plan, incidentally, would return the front doors to their original
elevation (as shown in the early photo), and would create more useable space by
having the vestibule at one level. Outside the front doors, the new landing would
be accessed by stairs and by a front ramp that ends near a new handicapped
parking area (to be provided as part of the state-funded roundabout project). A
curb along most of the ramp would reduce the need for railings, helping
maintain the historic facade of the meetinghouse. Whether this plan is feasible
depends, in part, on whether the town or its contractor is willing to modify
the current plans for regrading the front of the
church as part of the
If changing the elevation is not
feasible, then the doors would remain at their existing level, served by a ramp
and stairs, similar to the above plan, but at a lower elevation. The interior vestibule stairs would remain,
with a folding stair lift installed along one side.
In either plan, the architect has
proposed to reduce the width of our heavy front doors, surrounding them with a
transom window. This is intended to make the doors easier and safer to open and
to bring them into compliance with the current accessibility code. (Preliminary
cost estimate for all front entrance work: $150K).
Option: In addition to the base
plan, the existing wheelchair lift from the sanctuary to Parish Hall could be
replaced with a somewhat larger, easier-to-use “limited use” lift, if desired.
It might also be possible to move the elevator entrance door from the sanctuary
to the vestibule (Sketches 25, 26;
$100K).
(Within the building, the upper
and lower floor of the meetinghouse, and lower floors of the R.E. wing and Old
Center Hall would remain or be made accessible. Restrooms would be made
accessible as described later.)
R.E.
Wing Improvements: Chapel and Multipurpose Room, Larger Classrooms (Sketch 5)
One of the Board’s main reasons
for not purchasing Old Center Hall three years ago was concern about the safety
of pedestrians crossing
We are pleased to offer a space
plan that keeps all young children within the existing church buildings on
Sunday morning and provides an accessible chapel and multipurpose room. When
the CCNS daycare program moved out, it became apparent that the existing
nursery and kindergarten area in the R.E. wing could be used as a large
gathering space, if the nursery were relocated to another accessible space
within the building. Besides children’s worship, the room would accommodate
youth group, other large meetings that are currently held in the Parish Hall or
first floor of Old Center Hall, and perhaps, choir rehearsal space and summer services.
In addition, some of the remaining
classrooms would be made larger. (Preliminary cost estimate for reconfiguring
walls: $50K).
Option: Install a better divider
so that the multipurpose room can be used as two meeting rooms ($25K).
Old
Center Hall Improvements: Offices (Sketch OCH)
The downstairs
of Old Center Hall could be easily turned into an office suite to accommodate
all our professional staff. The three private offices could be left as is (with
some minor changes to doors, etc.) for the ministerial staff, and the existing
open area partitioned for administration and part-time staff, with a work area
for copying, filing, collating, etc. The
open/cubicle office concept for administrative staff would avoid potentially
costly HVAC upgrades that private offices would necessitate. Because the whole
floor would be dedicated to the staff, there would not be an issue with other
people circulating through the area, as they do in the existing parish hall.
Most importantly, all of our growing professional staff would be collocated for
the first time in recent memory, at minimal expense ($10K).
The upstairs of Old Center Hall
would be left as is for large meetings, Great Pond Sangha,
COA, and coffee house. if they so choose.
Option: The upstairs
could someday be made accessible with the addition of a stair lift (cost
estimate: TBD) or elevator ($100K?).
Our restrooms are inadequate for Sunday
mornings and large gatherings, providing only one private toilet each for men
and women (neither accessible), plus a semi-private handicapped toilet. Much to
our collective relief, our architect has figured out how to double the existing
capacity within the existing restroom area.
With 3 toilets for women and 2 fixtures for men, including a
handicapped-accessible stall for each, the new plan meets the plumbing code,
based on a maximum occupancy of 300. In order to satisfying accessibility dimensions,
the restroom area is somewhat larger than the existing area, requiring
excavation of a new boiler room stairway (Sketch
8); the costs of which
are included in our preliminary cost estimate ($120K).
This is largest proposed
investment that might be lost if someday we were to replace the R.E. wing and
its “connector” to the meetinghouse with a new building. It is possible, though not certain, that a
new building could incorporate this connector area which includes the bathrooms
and heating plant.
Our architect also proposed some
options for adding single-person bathrooms elsewhere within the R.E. Wing and
Parish Hall ($20K each), but these did not seem necessary once we established
that the existing bathroom area could be enlarged to meet our requirements.
Parish
Hall Improvements: New Stairway, Nursery, Vestibule and Outside Entrance (Sketches 3-Rev,
16, 28)
Stairway.
Another bottleneck, besides the restrooms, is the stairway leading from the
vestibule to the Parish Hall. Our
architect has proposed replacing it with a wider and less steep stairway. The
left rear door to the sanctuary would be moved to allow space for the new
stairs. This new plan would also re-expose the window to the left of the front
door, which has been partially obscured by the existing stairwell.
Stage/Storage.
The architect has recommended removing the existing stage platform and using
movable risers within the existing stage area for coffee house and other performances.
New closets would store chairs, tables, and the risers, when not in use. There
are a number of reasons for this recommendation:
- Reducing crowding in Parish
Hall has been one of priorities of this project from its inception, as was
pointed out when the Building Committee proposed to the Parish a smaller
parish hall in the new building Plan H!
One reason why our existing parish hall is crowded is because it is
also used to store coats, table, and chairs. The new storage closets will
provide more usable floor area in the parish hall. One of the strategies
throughout the planning process has been to efficiently use space for
multiple purposes, and while the existing stage suits coffee house, it is
underutilized at other times.
- Construction within the
meetinghouse will trigger code requirements to provide an accessible lift
to any permanent stage.
- The stage area may need be torn apart anyway to address moisture
issues, to work on the stairway, and to relocate the electrical panel for
code compliance.
Rather than rebuild a
handicapped-accessible stage, it seemed more prudent to spend our limited
resources on movable platforms at this time. Future major investments for
performance space might instead be spent making the upper floor of OCH
accessible. It has a larger stage, larger floor area, and unobstructed views,
with a kitchen area and restrooms nearby.
Nursery.
With the proposed chapel/multi-purpose room, the entire R.E. program cannot be
accommodated within the remainder of the R.E. wing. The existing office area
adjacent to the Parish Hall is proposed for R.E. (and storage). The architect
and R.E. director have proposed a novel idea that the nursery be accommodated
here. There would probably be windows between the Parish Hall at adult-eye
level, providing natural light and views into the room. At coffee hour, this
location would make it easy for parents to keep an eye on their children, and
it would make the play area more accessible for other meetings held during the
week. Giving children a supervised space during coffee hour would also help
them avoid bumping into adults carrying hot coffee.
We envision that this room would
be separated from the Parish Hall by a partition (or sets of double doors) which
could be opened to the Parish Hall for large meetings. Although these rooms
might not seem like part of the Parish Hall itself, they could double as a
serving area for dinners, concession area for coffee house, etc. When used in
this way, the nursery equipment would be stored in adjacent closets.
Alternative: An alternative would be to
use this space as two classrooms, and to create a nursery area in the R.E.
wing, upstairs. If we did this, we would need to add an elevator to make the
upper floor of the R.E. wing accessible, at considerable cost (Sketch 6; $100K).
If instead we have the nursery
adjacent to the parish hall, we can have “regular” classrooms on both levels of
the RE wing, and only worry about making the lower level accessible. This can
be done relatively cheaply via an outside entrance to the proposed
chapel/multipurpose room ($25K).
The total estimated cost for
reconfiguring the parish hall, including a new stairway, storage area, and
nursery area is $175,000.
Option:
New Vestibule and Outside Entrance (Sketches
16, 17): The
architect proposed to move the exterior door to the Parish Hall near the
existing elevator, adding a small vestibule there. The new vestibule would
provide more direct access to the elevator and stairway, provide a transition
from indoors to outdoors, and provide a place for the fire and electrical
panels, which are currently not code-compliant. It would also effectively free
up floor space near the existing exit door, which would no longer be used,
except for emergencies.
Outside, the existing porch would
be removed, letting more natural light into the parish hall. The new smaller
porch would be more architecturally compatible with the meetinghouse, and would
lead more directly to the front entrance and
People’s
Pantry.
The food pantry needs a storage area that is adjacent to a large area to serve
clients. We are exploring three options, to be discussed with the pantry
leaders:
- A storage room adjacent to
the parish hall, which would be used for serving;
- A storage room adjacent to the
proposed chapel/multipurpose room, which would be used for serving;
- The basement of Old Center
Hall (which has its own door to ground level) for storage and possibly
serving, depending on its suitability and the cost of any required finish
work.
Summary
of Estimated Costs and Recommendations
Note: the following are very rough estimates based on schematic
design. More detailed cost estimates will be possible only after completing design
and development. At this point these estimates are only intended for deciding
which ideas to develop further.
|
Base Cost |
Option Cost |
|
|
Sanctuary and Parish Hall Improvements |
|
|
|
New level front entry at lower lobby |
$150,000
|
|
|
New enlarged stair, coat & chair storage,
nursery |
$175,000
|
|
|
New asphalt walks |
$5,000
|
|
|
Option: New airlock vestibule entrance and porch |
|
$35,000
|
|
Option: New LU/LA lift for Parish hall/sanctuary |
|
$100,000
|
|
Option: Wheelchair accommodation in sanctuary |
|
TBD |
|
RE wing improvements |
|
|
|
Class/meeting rooms: move walls; minimal add’l work |
$50,000
|
|
|
Option: Stair lift to lower level only |
|
$25,000
|
|
Option: 3-stop limited-use open lift |
|
$100,000
|
|
Option: New partition in RE worship space |
|
$25,000
|
|
Restroom/connector improvements |
|
|
|
Move boiler stairs |
$40,000
|
|
|
Upgrade restrooms per SK-26 |
$80,000
|
|
|
Option: Additional restrooms in Parish Hall and
RE wing |
|
$40,000
|
|
Old Center Hall Improvements |
|
|
|
Office partitions/lighting allowance |
$10,000
|
|
|
Option: New LULA lift |
|
$100,000? |
|
Option: Stair lift |
|
TBD |
|
Total Renovations |
$510,000
|
|
Additional
budgeted preservation and repair costs, not described in this report, include
fire suppression and alarms, foundation and drainage work, and interior
sanctuary repairs.
Conclusion
We feel
that the proposed renovation plan meets many of our program needs. We also feel
that these improvements will remove some of barriers encountered by newcomers,
by providing front-door accessibility, better access to the parish hall, a
larger, family-friendly parish hall with adjacent nursery, adequate restrooms,
and better storage. The exterior plans are sympathetic to the church’s historic
architecture. And, we feel that a majority of the proposed renovations have
longevity – even if someday the church decides to proceed with a new addition.
We invite
your comments.