We're Building Something Great!
The Project
In order to more fully support Church of Our Saviour’s mission and ministry as well as Care for Friends’ services, the new building will replace our existing parish hall built in the 1860s with a modern, three-story building. The new building will connect to our historic sanctuary while leaving our 150-year-old worship space unaltered.
Accessibility & Energy Efficiency
Today, moving between the buildings requires a lot of going up and down stairs, along with use of an aging chair lift in the sanctuary and a "temporary" aluminum ramp that has been added to the front of the church building for over almost two decades.
The new Community Center entrance will be at ground level, eliminating the need for an outdoor ramp system. This will allow us to finally remove the aluminum ramp from the main entrance to the church. The new vestibule will offer an elevator, providing access to all three levels, as well as stairs and the main level of the Community Center will only be a few steps up from ground-level which will be at level with the church's main floor (nave). All aspects of the design for the new building have taken into account accessibility needs and requirements.
The new Community Center will also utilize new technology and equipment in order to provide all the features we require, but with far less adverse impact to the environment. From energy sources, to better windows and insulation, heating and cooling, and more, this project helps COS move closer to becoming a more carbon neutral campus.
The Main Level
The main entrance of the new building will be at ground level, directly off of the parking lot.
The main level of the building consists of a flexible gathering space that can accommodate a variety of programmatic needs. In addition to weekly Coffee Hours and other parish activities, the space will also be suitable for wedding receptions, graduation parties, and other income-generating rental opportunities.
There will also be a small conference room on this level for small groups to meet or wedding parties to use while getting ready for their big day.
A warming kitchen/break room will support Sunday morning coffee hour needs, movie nights, and other parish events. Our larger food preparation needs can be accommodated by the full, commercial kitchen on the lower level of the building.
The stairwell in our current building will be replaced by an entrance hall that provides access to the sanctuary and main level bathrooms. An elevator will provide access to the upper and lower levels.
There will also be two stairwells with access to all floors in the building and provide necessary emergency exits.
The Lower Level
The lower level of the building will have a commercial grade kitchen, pantry, flexible/office space, restrooms, and a multi-purpose space to accommodate the meals and support various services provided by Care for Friends.
The Upper Level
The upper level of the building will include classrooms for our weekly youth programs. This floor will also feature a small gathering space and the junior and senior high classrooms will be furnished with adult soft-seating and full A/V equipment for online or hybrid meetings and outside group rental.
We hope to make a portion of this level available for weekday rental to an outside tenant for additional revenue.
Life Under Construction
The exact start date for demolition and construction is still being determined, as we are currently in the permitting stage of the project. Currently, we expect to begin in early 2024 and when construction begins, we estimate it will take 16-18 months before the new space is complete.
During the bulk of the construction phase, COS will need to relocate part of its operations to a different location. We have made arrangements with our long-time community partner, Salvatore’s, for our Sunday services and worship, during this phase of the project. Salvatore's is located just behind COS, at 525 West Arlington Place.
We are fortunate to have our rectory still available to us during the building phase for staff offices and small meeting spaces. The rectory will also serve as the temporary location for our Sunday School program as well as mid-week programming and chapel space.
We will continue to provide online and hybrid worship and program options as usual.