Welcome to
   Sycamore Presbyterian Church
      Alive in Christ!
 
Facilities Development Team 

May 11, 2010

Session has heard and approved the work of the FDT and adopted the Facility Master Plan as proposed.  You can see the plan by clicking the link under "Documents."  The Capital Campaign Committee has begun preliminary feasibility studies with the potential of a fall 2010 capital campaign.

April 5, 2010

The final report of the Facilities Development Team, including a recommended master facility plan, is in the hand of the Session.  It will be considered at Session's next meeting on Monday, May 10th.  Watch this page for details coming very soon!

April 5, 2010

The final input process is complete.  The FDT is taking the comments it has heard from the congregation, the committees and the staff and is now in the process of considering them as movement toward a final facility master plan goes forward.  Watch this web page for more on that progress.

March 12, 2010

The Facilities Development Team (FDT) has been working for over six months to define the parameters for a possible renovation and expansion of our current facility.  Input from the Strategic Planning Committee; meetings with staff, committees and the congregation last fall; discussions with the Ministry Development Team; from Michael Schuster Associates Architects; guidance from the Living Stones consultation; from Session perspectives and from visits to a number of other churches in Ohio and Indiana have all come together into a draft plan for solving many of our identified facility and ministry needs in response to what God is doing at Sycamore Presbyterian Church.  The Session reviewed this plan at their March meeting and agreed that the FDT should share the plan again with the committees, staff and congregation for additional input.

You are invited to attend one of four presentations to learn more about this draft plan and to share your ideas, feedback and comments with the FDT.

You'll be seeing a DRAFT plan...it is NOT a final plan nor a commitment to proceed with fund raising or construction.

Please join us at one of the following times: 

  • Sunday, March 21 at 9:40 am (immediately following the 8:45 am service) in the Sanctuary

  • Sunday, March 21 at 11:40 am (immediately following the 10:45 am service) in the Sanctuary

  • Monday, March 22 at 7:30 pm in the Sanctuary, or

  • Saturday, March 27at 9:00 am in the Sanctuary.

In addition, the FDT will maintain a table with the draft plans in Harper Hall  beginning Sunday, March 21st.  Each Sunday thereafter through Easter, members of the FDT will be available during the morning hours to answer any questions and receive any suggestions you may have.

And more…the table and plans will remain in Harper Hall during the week as well.  So if you’re here at any time and wish to post a comment, you’ll find sticky note pads and pens on the table.  Just post your comment (all comments MUST be signed or they will not be considered) on the board next to the table.  The FDT will assemble all comments and suggestions and then continue with it planning process.

Please make the time in your schedule to attend one of these very important meetings. 

February 8, 2010

Meetings with Michael Schuster and Associates continue as our facility and ministry needs, identified over the past few years, continue to gain life in conceptual drawings.  From a number of drawings, the FDT is narrowing in on two directions and modifications are being made to each.  The next meeting of the Team with MSA will occur in several weeks.

January 15, 2010

 The FDT continues to work with the architects from Michael Schuster Associates on several concepts of what an expansion and renovation of the facility might look like, in view of our continuing growth and current/future ministry needs.

All options are currently on the table and are being explored in depth in keeping with the three primary development areas as defined in our various meetings with committees, the congregation and from the Living Stones report.  MSA's target date for delivery of a final concept and estimated development costs is March 15th.

  

Documents

 Master Plan Brochure
 Congregational Comments


The Report

 

Other Stuff

Chronological Event Log
 Project Question and Answer
 Initial Charge

November 9, 2009

SPC Selects Michael Schuster Associates

The Session has accepted the recommendation of the Facilities Development Team (FDT) of Michael Schuster Associates (MSA), Architects, to lead the conceptual design phase toward a possible renovation and expansion.


From a list of fifteen design/build or architectural firms down to three and then to one, the FDT conducted numerous interviews and actual site visits in the selection process.

MSA brings a wealth of church design experience, having recently performed architectural services for Anderson Hills United Methodist Church, Knox Presbyterian Church, Church of the Good Shepherd and many more.  Outside of the religious world, Schuster has vast experience in other areas of design including the new Blue Ash Recreation Center, College of Mount St. Joseph, Sawyer Point, the Jewish Community Center and others.  More info about their portfolio can be found at www.msaarch.com.

The team began its meetings with MSA in mid-November and is currently establishing a timeline for the design phase.
September 13, 2009

 Site visits continue and the Team has scheduled final interviews with the two companies under consideration.  It is our hope to have one company selected by the end of October.
August 9, 2009

 From 16...to 6...to 3.  The Facilities Development team has further narrowed its choices for design and construction to three companies:  The Miller Valentine Corporation (church division), the Aspen Group and Michael Schuster Architects.  Over the next 3-4 weeks, members of the FDT will be visiting churches designed and built by each of these firms and will then hold individual meetings with them...all aiming toward the recommendation of one firm.

The FDT met in August with the members of the Mission Development Team to compare notes on their facility needs.  The meeting was incredibly positive and, to many on the FDT, affirmed the direction that it had gleaned from the previous staff, committee and congregational feedback.
July 8, 2009

 Through the month of June the FDT gathered preliminary information on 16 architectural firms and design/build firms in preparation for its July meeting.  On Tuesday, July 7th the Committee reviewed this information and selected six companies...three architects and three design/build companies...from which more in-depth information will be requested.  The architectural firms chosen include GYA Architects, Michael Shuster Architects and Living Stones Architecture...the three design/build firms selected include Miller Valentine Construction, the McKnight Group and the Aspen Group.

The Committee will next meet in late July to consider the results of this next round of information gathering and to proceed to more due diligence with 2-3 companies before selecting one company to assist us with our renovation and expansion program.
June 1, 2009

 In a special meeting of the Session, the Facilities Development Team presented a summary of the input provided by the staff, groups and congregation of the church concerning possible renovation and expansion ideas and suggestions, including all raw data that formed the Team's summaries.

The FDT also asked Session for permission to take the next step of interviewing and engaging outside design and development assistance to take everyone's ideas and thoughts and begin to develop them into more concrete drawings.  Session unanimously approved this request.

The Team will shortly begin to interview a number of architects and design/build firms with the goal of having a company selected within the next 90 days.
May 20, 2009

 In January, Session gave the Facilities Development Team (FDT) a proposal to develop a comprehensive "land use plan".   It is to incorporate the use of all church property, facility needs (current and future) and needs of staff and all ministries. 

The Committee has completed its initial fact finding period, consisting of interviews with staff, committees and with the congregation at large in a number of recent meetings.  The results are being compiled and summarized and will be presented to the Session in a special meeting in early June.

As you might imagine a number of questions arose throughout these interviews...we've chosen the most asked questions and have listed them below.

The FDT has been given 12 months to complete the information-gathering and initial design process.  It must be understood when reading the following Q&A that nothing has been decided.  A design firm will be hired to develop plans to expand our current facilities, from which we will develop our "land use plan".

May 4, 2009

The FDT is in the process of holding meetings of the congregation to gain further input into possible renovation and expansion options for the church facility.  The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12th at 7:00 PM and we invite everyone in the congregation to be present and offer input.

You may also send your input to the Facilities Development Team by clicking HERE and completing an online response form.  When you submit your form the results will go to the entire Team and your comments be will be placed in the mix.

HERE is a copy of the document that those who have (and will be) attending the congregational meetings will receive.  You can download one for yourself or [pick one up at any of the meetings.

March 29,2009:

   The FDT has completed its preliminary work with staff and committees of the church to identify the main issues affecting each group relative to their ministries' short and long-term facility needs.

   The Team is crafting a report to Session on its work to-date and designing the next phase of information gathering:  involving the entire congregation in this process.

   Watch is page, along with the bulletin and the newsletter for more on this coming process.  And please be prepared to offer your input...it is critical to the development of a facility renovation and expansion strategy that will serve the church and the community to many years!
 

Facilities Development Team "Q & A"

1.  Why are you expanding the Sanctuary?  Does it need to be that big?

   Answer:  As our church membership and attendance have grown, we are routinely seeing people leave before the second service due to lack of seats.  While use of the chapel should buy us some time to complete the expansion, it is not likely to solve our growth problem.  Our current sanctuary seats 308 comfortably.  Assuming continued growth and the need to have plenty of room for visitors, it is projected we should have a sanctuary of approximately 600. 

 

2.  Why are you proposing an Activity center?

    Answer:  An activity center can be a hub for a growing congregation. It provides gathering space for larger activities which might not work well in the sanctuary…such as a congregational dinner, as a site for an alternative worship service, as a space for enlarged fellowship activity. An activity center can also offer recreational space for a congregation with growing ministries in the areas of student and children’s ministries, pre-school and single adults, supporting activities that do not flow well in Harper Hall. In realizing an activity center we will wonder “how did we ever get by without one.” The ways we can use such a facility is only limited by our creativity.

 

3.  Why are we building a new youth facility?

    Answer:  The current youth facility is old and not very nice.  The youth are separate from the rest of the church and need to be brought back into the church.  Some families have been leaving the church to join other churches that provide better youth facilities.  This is a very important age in Christian development and we need to invest more in the future of our youth.  Additionally, as Mason Road is expanded, the street will be too busy and wide for our youth to routinely cross the street.  The township has indicated that we might have to build a walkway over the street if we maintained the youth facility where it is now.

 

4.  Why are you proposing to change the offices?

   Answer:  As our staff has grown, we have had to convert other space within the building to offices.  The location of these offices has not always been ideal and does not facilitate staff interaction.  We do not have an ideal location for a reception area during the week, and security/privacy of the offices is almost non-existent.

 

5. Can we really afford all of this?  Why not just do one and see how much money we have left before deciding to do all of it?

  Answer: We do not know how much money we can raise and may not for some time.  We feel it is important to have a complete design to ensure the long term plan makes complete sense.  If we have to delay portions of the plan due to lack of funds, we will still have the full plan to complete the project at a later time.

 

6. Who has provided input to this proposal?

  Answer:  We have talked with almost all of the ministries and operational staff.  We have talked with most of the major committees in the church and have past or current representatives from many of them on our committee including the Session, Trustees, Deacons and MDT.  We have conducted at least 6 congregational input sessions.  We have also placed a feedback form on the Church's web site.  We have tried to talk with as many people as possible.  If we have missed you until now, please take advantage of the online feedback form or contact a member of the FDT directly..

 

7.  What is the expected timeline for this project and what are the next steps?

  Answer: We are currently completing the design guidelines to be given to a design firm in late summer.  We would expect them to take 6-9 months to provide a design and get alignment with the Church membership.  The hope is to start the actual construction next summer/fall.

 

  

8.  How long have we been studying expanding the church?

  Answer:  There have been a number of long range planning efforts going back several years including the Living Stones study last year.  The current effort started in 2005 with the Strategic Planning Committee and in January of this year with the Facilities Development Team (FDT) and builds on the work from the previous groups.

 

9.  Do we need to expand the classrooms?

  Answer:  As our membership grows, we need to have bigger rooms to support the children's, and adult, ministries.  Other than Harper Hall, we do not currently have an attractive place to conduct classes or adult meetings.  This limits this type of activity to one at a time and when IHN is in session, we are not even able to do that.

 

10.  Is there enough land to do this expansion and have enough parking when we are done?

  Answer:  We believe there is enough land, but this will need to be confirmed by the design firm.  We do have agreement to use the township parking across Mason Road when we need it.

 

11. Where will our main entrance be?

  Answer: We are expecting the design firm to make a recommendation on where our main "daily" entrance will be. We will want to always have a visible "front" to the church from Mason/Montgomery Road.

 

12. Should we build a new Sanctuary instead of expanding the current one?

  Answer:  We expect the design firm to provide a recommendation on this issue.  However, due to the interaction of the sanctuary proposal with the activity center it is likely that expanding the sanctuary in place will be a cheaper option than building a new sanctuary.

 

13. Are you going to sell Seven Gables?

  Answer:  There are two primary ideas of what to do with Seven Gables.  We hope that the design firm will confirm one of these.  The church is "land locked" in its current location, and we are not likely to be able to acquire any more land around us.  Therefore, we should hold onto Seven Gables for possible use in the future including overflow parking. 

      The alternative is to sell Seven Gables and use the proceeds to fund our expansion.  While this land will likely not bring in as much money as we would like, it is possible to fund a substantial portion of the expansion.  We estimate that we could get from $.8-1.2 million from the sale.

 

14.  What are you going to do with the Manse?

  Answer:  We expect to tear down the Manse. It can not legally be used without significant expensive upgrades to comply with building and life safety codes.   The land will likely be used for parking in the future. 

 

Introduction and initial charge:

In the fall of 2008 the Session created and charged the Facilities Development Team (FDT) with the daunting task of aligning our facility and campus with the needs of our various ministries, of our staff and in the support of our church leadership for our current and anticipated needs...all with an eye on where the Lord is leading us.

The FDT's first task was to conduct a study and to present to the Session a multi-use plan for the Chapel in light of existing and anticipated space issues.

FDT MEMBERS
Ron Green, Chair
Tom Fisher
Barbara Harrison
Jim Dimmit
Tom Galloway
Dan Weber
Kate Camp
Don McGill
Tom Eberhard
Rev. Larry Kent
Jack Taylor

Email the Team

After multiple opportunities for input from the congregation and staff, and and mindful of the prior work of the Strategic Planning Committee, the FDT presented its recommendation to the Session in January.  After a brief discussion, the Session voted to approve the proposal and to proceed with the renovation.  New chairs have been ordered and the removal of the existing pews is slated to begin some time in early April.  The renovation will include the new chairs, a fresh coat of paint, accents  throughout to match the new chair fabric color and much more.

The Session's next task for the team is much broader in scope...to update the land use plan and to initiate a due diligence evaluation of our entire facility and campus, in light of ministry, congregational and staff needs, both present and future.

The first phase of that due diligence began as the Committee met in a day-long retreat in Kettering, Ohio facilitated by team member Tom Fisher.  The outcome of that meeting was the identification of a number of primary, secondary and design issues relating to our charge. 

Primary issues include:
 

  • Identification of options to increase our sanctuary space

  • Restructuring of the church's office space

  • Options for expanding the use of the facility - multi-use options.

Out of these three areas flow many other issues related to the facility that will be made part of the overall discussion:

Main church entry Fellowship area/Atrium
Pre-school playground Seven Gables property
Best use of the Manse property All events happening on the main campus
Better signage Functional storage
Dedicated youth space Flexibility of facility
Funding and Marketing HVAC

AND MORE....

At the Kettering retreat, the Team approved the following timeline for its work:

February 2009   Gather currently available information and engage church staff and committees in broad discussion of facility needs related to their tasks/ministry
 

March & April 2009

    

Seek feedback from the congregation relative to the three major issues - sub-issues will also flow from this discussion
MAY 2009   Compile report for the Session and congregation
June & July 2009   Review findings and begin to interview any outside assistance necessary to proceed
September 2009   Engage any necessary outside assistance
March 2010   Complete the development of initial renovation/expansion ideas and possibilities
     

Throughout this process, the Communications Sub-Committee of the FDT will be keeping the congregation fully informed of the Team's progress and findings through this web site, through the weekly bulletin and the monthly newsletter, as well as other means...with the goal of developing a plan for our facility needs in the near and long term.