Imagine the Future!

For the last several years, much work has gone into visioning for the future of Trinity UMC.  A major component of the visioning work is renovating our church facilities to better equip our building with improvements to accommodate the ministry of Trinity UMC today and in the future.

Our building team has been working diligently with the vision and values of the church.  Much feedback, discernment, prayer, and information has been a part of the process.  This year the building team has been working with Wesley Community Development Corporation, LS3P Architectural Firm, and Clancy & Theys Construction Company to prepare for our upcoming renovation.

The building team is excited about what is unfolding and we look forward to sharing the process, design, and other information with the whole congregation.  We are excited for the future and we invite you to come and grow with us!

The priorities that the church renovation will focus on are:

1. To address the foundation and overall envelope of the building to make sure that it stands strong for the next 100 years and beyond.

2. Address the accessibility of our building by improving entrances, handicap accessibility, and by creating a more efficient flow of the building.

3. Expansion of our kitchen and fellowship hall improvements to create a welcoming environment for church and community events.

4. Update of office and conference room space to improve our technological capabilities and expanded working areas for staff and volunteers.

5. Improve the physical visibility of the church exterior.  This will include new signage, landscaping, and outdoor lighting.

6. Improvement and enlargement of youth space so that we can expand our youth ministry, activities, and after school programming.  Ministry space for Sunday school classes, small groups, and music ministry are also important considerations.

A Firm Foundation:

Work to address the foundation and sustainability of the building includes repairing major leaks on the front stairs by waterproofing the steps and the front porch landings.  Rusted rebar inside of the concrete has been taken out and then replaced with new rebar.  Faltering concrete has been taken out and replaced with high strength concrete.  The tops of the support columns are to be capped with new material to stop water from flowing down the columns.  Finally, the missing piece of copper cornice over the columns will be replaced.

The overall Copper Cornice around the perimeter of the roof has been stabilized, and more work is being done to look into the overall integrity of the cornice and roof.

The inside gutters along the roof line will be addressed with new TPO to address water leaks along the roof line into the interior walls.

Accessibility and Improved Flow of the Building:

Trinity UMC has a strong desire to be accessible for everyone and for the building to be accommodating for the needs of all people. To improve the flow and accessibility of the building a new entrance is added on the back of the building that opens to the parking lot, a new elevator is added in the education building, and a ramp is added on the inside between the education building and the fellowship hall area.  A new ramp will also be a part of the exterior back entrance to the building.  The elevator and ramps will make the entire building handicap accessible and also more open and welcoming.  The bathrooms will also be completely redone and enlarged to be handicap accessible.

A new crescent drive is added on the 14th street side of the building with a covered entrance into the fellowship hall.  Handicap parking may be added in the crescent drive for Sundays and church events.  The existing elevator in the Fellowship Hall is left in place, and a new stairway is added from the Fellowship hall into the Narthex to access the sanctuary.  The current inside stairs for the sanctuary are removed to make a wider ramp.

The Narthex is widened to make room for the new stairs, and to give a more welcoming area to enter and exit the sanctuary.

The stairs on the 14th Street side of the Education Building are enclosed to create a second internal stairway on the education side of the building.

Hospitality: Expansion of Kitchen and Fellowship Hall

The Fellowship Hall and Kitchen will be enlarged and updated as part of our value of hospitality.  The current kitchen will be nearly doubled in size by removing the wall between the kitchen and the current parlor.  There will also be a storage room added near the kitchen to store tables, chairs, and other things for fellowship and events.  The fellowship hall will be enlarged by removing unnecessary walls near the front of the building.  This will create more open space for fellowship, gathering, and community events.

Two handicap accessible bathrooms will be located at the front of the building to serve as restroom facilities for the fellowship hall area.

Glass doors are added to both side of the fellowship hall as openings into the newly landscaped courtyard (where outdoor events can be held), and to 14th Street.  The 14th Street door will open into a covered drive up area.

The fellowship hall will be painted, new flooring added, lighting will be replaced with LED lights, and the overall look will be updated.

Working Space and Future Readiness:

The church office space and current church library will be updated and reconfigured to house more office space and an open work area.  The library will be updated into a conference room area with modern equipment and finishes.  A small counseling room will be one of the additions in the office space.  Over the last two years, updates have already been made with our security system, WiFi, and technology.  The current janitors closet will be maintained as an IT room that will store current and future electronic needs.

The bathrooms on the first and second floor, that will serve the church office and ministry areas, our enlarged, and modernized to be handicap accessible bathrooms.  New tile, paint, and plumbing will be going into the new bathrooms.

Visibility: Improvement of Church Exterior and Landscaping

The physical visibility of the church exterior will go through significant improvements while maintaining the historic character and nature of the building.  Much of the improvements will be made with a redesigned landscape that brings beauty and function to the church grounds.  The landscape plan includes newly paved walkways, an outdoor courtyard designed to be a gathering space, a new church sign, and beautiful new plantings that are designed to enhance the beauty of the building and soften the look of it with fresh color.

On the outside of the building are two new entrances on the back of the building that opens into the parking lot, and on the side of the fellowship hall that opens into a crescent shaped drive up.  These new entrances are covered with wood pergola’s that match the character of the building while providing covered areas over the entrances to protect from the elements.

Also in the plan, is new outdoor lighting to enhance the building at night and make the building more visible.

Ministry Space Improvements:

The ministries of our church for all ages are essential and important for how we use our space.  The needs that we identified are enlargement and updating of youth space, freshening up of children spaces, maintaining a music rehearsal space, and spaces for small groups and Sunday School. The new youth room will be relocated to the current choir room, with a wall removed to make a large corner shaped room.  New furniture and a youth friendly interior design will be a part of the new youth space.  The music room will be relocated to another large room on the second floor that gives adequate space for music rehearsals.  Rooms for Sunday School and small groups will be repainted, new LED lights installed, floors refinished, and have updated technology.  The children’s ministry rooms will remain in their current location and will also have updating, fresh paint, refinished floors, new lighting, and updated technology.

First Floor:

New Floor Plans:

Second Floor:

Sustainability and Financial Stewardship:

The building project will be fully funded by the investments of Trinity UMC, without using all of our funds.  The finance committee has done significant work to determine what we need to keep to continue to have financial freedom for the mission and ministry of the church.  Financial decisions are made based on the recommendations of the finance committee and we are committed to being good stewards of the resources that God has blessed our church with.  In addition to our investments, it is recommended by the finance committee that we continue to lease extra space to nonprofits that fit within the overall mission of the church.  Currently, office space is leased on the second floor to Church World Service and we we hope to continue this relationship.

We are looking forward to beginning this renovation project!  We are thankful to the Vision Team, Building Team, and Finance Committee for their time and hard work to make these recommendations.  These recommendations represent detailed visionary concepts to improve our capacity for the church’s mission.  We will continue to work with professionals over the coming year and beyond to bring our exciting vision to reality!