Minutes from Building Committee Meeting - August 16, 2003

Attendees: Dave Cain, Roy Koch, Tom Mowrer, Jim Nelson, Carole Sarber, and Bob Tierney Note: This was a special meeting to begin the process of defining the layout of the FRC. The meeting started at 9 AM.

1. Prayer
The meeting started with prayer for various needs of the church congregation and for the work of the Building Committee.


2. Format of this meeting
This meeting took place in the Board Room. The scale model of the church with the original version of the FRC was carefully disassembled and discussed. Also, the committee spent considerable time outside viewing the area where the FRC may be built. This time was well spent as many new ideas and constraints were defined. Also, a list of programs was developed and discussed.


3. Programs
The first step in defining the layout of the FRC is to determine the programs that the FRC will need to support. The committee made a list of the ideas resulting from the visits to the Mars Alliance Church and First Free Evangelical Church in McKeesport, the congregation survey, and the creative planning session. The list includes:  



Program	Source
Youth Basketball	Mars, FF, Survey, CPS
Youth Volleyball	Mars, FF, Survey
AWANA	Mars
Fellowship before Sunday Services	FF
Youth canteen or coffee house	Mars, Survey, CPS
Large Dinners	Mars, FF, Survey, CPS
Drama presentations	Survey
Young (18-25) Adult Ministry	Survey, CPS
Exercise for Older Adults	Survey, CPS
Classes in Secular Topics	Survey, CPS
Adult Day Care	Survey, CPS
Home Schooler Support	Survey
After-school programs	CPS
Music Presentations	CPS
Youth worship	CPS

Many of these programs could be started with our current facility. Those that could potentially "drive" the FRC layout include: youth basketball, youth volleyball, youth canteen or coffee house, large dinners, drama presentations, and music presentations. After further discussion the committee decided that the layout must include a gym, kitchen, youth area, and spectator area. A stage was a want but not a must.

4. Review of Existing Model

The existing model was disassembled and carefully examined. The following conclusions were reached:

• The kitchen must be on the same floor and near the gym.
  
  
• Lots of storage space will be required. There will be many tables and chairs to store. The model shows inadequate storage area. One or more of the current downstairs classrooms may need to be used for storage.
  
  
• There is no room to make a permanent stage like at Mars Alliance. Any stage will need to be portable.
  
  
• The current model has a large locker and shower area downstairs near the gym. There should be a locker area but the large shower area is not needed.
  
  
• The model shows two stories adjacent to the gym. A third story might be possible with the upper story being devoted to the Youth area. However, this make the roofline discontinuous and unattractive.
  

  5. Outside Walk-around

• One of the long sides of the gym will rest on the top of the hill beside the upper parking lot. The hillside will go along this whole side (about 125 feet). This hillside seems to be a "perfect" bleacher area. It may be possible to have seating along this side of the gym. Maybe even stadium-like seats could be used instead of bleachers. There would likely be room for hundreds of seats. If these seats were used, then there would not be a need for a stage since drama or music presentations could take place on the gym floor with spectators in these seats. However, it might be very expensive to install this type of seating.
  
  
• The lower parking lot (where the current volleyball court exists) is totally "cosmetic". The hillside is so steep and the stairs will be so high that most people will never agree to park there. We will need to have parking there to satisfy zoning laws. This parking area should be made as cheaply as possible since it will seldom be used.
  
  
• The "footprint" of the FRC might fit into the lower area where the volleyball court exists. If the FRC was built there then a walkway would be needed between the existing structure and the FRC. Cars would need to be able to drive under the walkway. This would have the advantage of allowing parking to be in the current lower parking lot and then people would walk down to the FRC. Also, since this would be a free standing structure the need for the elevator might be eliminated. Energy costs for this structure probably wouldn’t be much higher than for the FRC addition shown on the model. However, this free standing FRC may not be attractive looking.
  
  
• The walk-around showed how land-locked we are and how difficult it will be to design a FRC to meet our needs.
  
  

  6. Further Discussion

• The presentation to the Governing Board is scheduled for November 2003. We need to get input from the Advisory Group prior to the presentation. Tom Mowrer intends to have a meeting of the full AG to review our work. It was decided the BC should be at that meeting. Also, it was decided that, if possible, a short meeting with an architect should be conducted prior to the Governing Board presentation to make sure we aren’t recommending an impossible or very costly layout. We would need to get GB approval to pay the architect for this short meeting. The following tentative plan was developed:

1. Meeting to prepare layout - September 6
2. Meeting with AG – September 20
3. Meet with architect – around October 4
4. Finalize layout – October 20
5. Presentation to GB – November 11

• Koch agreed to take the initiative to get GB approval for the architect meeting.

• The Sunset Valley Elementary tour is scheduled for September 13 at 10 AM. However this conflicts with a teacher training program. It was agreed that the time for this tour must be changed. A time of 8:30 AM on September 13 would work. Koch will get either the time or date changed. The committee also agreed that no other tours are needed. We have plenty of work to do in the next two months and more tours aren’t worth the time. Thus, the planned tour of Hempfield Presbyterian Church will be cancelled.

• The meeting concluded with discussion of two recurrent issues. These issues are not part of the charter of the Building Committee but are important enough that they should be brought to the attention of the Governing Board. Koch agreed to make these issues visible to the GB either by letter or by presentation at the next GB meeting. The issues are:

1. Options for the FRC are very limited because of the small parcel of land that we own. The Governing Board should consider the option of selling our current facility and buying a larger tract of land before a significant amount of money is committed to the FRC. The BC is not recommending this option. The BC is just recommending that the option be explored.
   
   
2. The new FRC is being built to attract unsaved people to our church to hear the plan of salvation. If successful, the BC is concerned that the new people attracted to our church will not become regular attendees because of the relatively small size of the sanctuary. Our second service on Sunday is now essentially full. This means that additional services will be needed and major changes to church programs (e.g. Sunday School) will be required. If such changes aren’t made when the FRC is put in place then the purpose of the FRC may be thwarted. The BC recommends that the GB discuss and decide on a new worship and Sunday School format prior to committing significant funds to the FRC. Getting congregation buy-in on these changes is also a good idea.

7. Adjournment