September 2010

As you can see, the walls of the lower level have been poured, the rough plumbing and electrical connections are being laid, and soon the floor for the lower level will be poured. Over the next couple of weeks, the walls will be waterproofed and backfilled with soil, and then the footings and the piers for the first level will be excavated and poured. Keep praying for good weather as our new addition begins to take shape. Also, please continue to be careful as you use the Sanctuary parking lot as there are holes and uneven pavement.  As always, we ask for your prayers during this phase of the project. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a member of the Building Committee: Tom Farquhar (Chair), Doug Sitton (Co-chair), Dean Christianson, Roger Cox, Marci Fitts, Stephanie Foltz, Shawn Lankford, Jim Nicholas, and Melanie Shaw.

July 2010

After the initial excavation was made for the new addition, the soil base was found to contain too much ground water. The project was halted for several weeks in hopes that the ground would dry out naturally. However, it was soon deemed that some sort of soil stabilization would be necessary before construction could proceed. The soil will be stabilized in late June and the pouring of the foundation and the footings will begin as soon as the soil is stabilized. Unfortunately, this delay will push back our completion date beyond the original projected finish date of December 1. Again, we hope all of our members will be patient with the inconveniences caused by the construction, and at the same time, enjoy watching our dream turn into reality. As always, we ask for your prayers during this new phase of the project. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a member of the Building Committee: Tom Farquhar (Chair), Doug Sitton (Co-chair), Dean Christianson, Roger Cox, Marci Fitts, Stephanie Foltz, Shawn Lankford, Jim Nicholas, and Melanie Shaw. 

June 2010

Despite some initial delay in early May, awaiting the delivery of rebar and finalizing timber drawings, construction started on May 12 and is now underway!  The committee has spent the past few weeks working to finalize the contract details with Poettker Construction and making final decisions regarding some value engineering changes. Despite the initial delay, the schedule still calls for completion by December 1. Again, we hope all of our members will be patient with the inconveniences caused by the construction, and at the same time, enjoy watching our dream turn into reality. As always, we ask for your prayers during this new phase of the project. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a member of the Building Committee: Tom Farquhar (Chair), Doug Sitton (Co-chair), Dean Christianson, Roger Cox, Marci Fitts, Stephanie Foltz, Shawn Lankford, Jim Nicholas, and Melanie Shaw. 

May 2010

The Building Committee is excited to announce that construction on our new addition will begin during the first week of May. The committee met with the architects and the contractor, Poettker Construction, on April 7 to coordinate schedules and the many details that will be involved during construction. The goal is to minimize disruptions to the numerous activities that take place each week at the church while allowing the contractor to proceed efficiently with the work. We hope all of our members will be patient with the inconveniences caused by the construction, and at the same time, enjoy watching our dream turn into reality. As always, we ask for your prayers during this new phase of the project. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a member of the Building Committee: Tom Farquhar (Chair), Doug Sitton (Co-chair), Dean Christianson, Roger Cox, Marci Fitts, Stephanie Foltz, Shawn Lankford, Jim Nicholas, and Melanie Shaw.

April 2010

The Building Committee is now actively working with our general contractor, Poettker Construction, as well as our architectural firm, Kromm, Rikimaru, and Johanson (KRJ) to negotiate the final contract. The committee is also looking at ways in which members of First United may be able to help out in tasks such as work area cleanup, room painting, site grading and seeding, etc. Such items would not only reduce overall project costs; but would provide members of the congregation, who were not able to contribute financially as much as they would have liked, an opportunity to contribute “sweat equity” to the new addition. The present construction schedule calls for building completion around Thanksgiving 2010. Let us keep all who are working on the project in our prayers that all work is done safely, on schedule, and in accordance with God’s plan for First United!

March 2010

The Building Committee has spent the last several weeks working with the architects to check out electrical and mechanical issues and to make final adjustments to the drawings that are included in the bid packages. The drawings and project information were finalized and packages were sent out to prospective bidders in early February with a deadline of February 24 to receive their quotes. The Building Committee is in the process of reviewing the quotes and is expected to select the winning contractor shortly.  Keep the committee in your prayers during this crucial time that its decisions may reflect God’s will for First United! 

February 2010

The Building Committee, architects, and many others continue to be hard at work developing the drawings, schedules, and costs necessary to make First United’s building project a brick and mortar reality. The committee met twice in January to discuss the many details necessary to put together the final plans before the contract is put out to bid.

In order to give the architects ample time to study the remaining issues and prepare the detailed final drawings, a revised timeline was adopted.

+ February 3 Bids released

+ February 24 Quotes from contractors due 

+ March 4 Building Committee meets to pick contractor

+ March 8 Contract Awarded 

+ March 21 Ground Breaking

As always, the Building Committee encourages you to send your thoughts or questions to its committee email (building@firstunitedpres.org) or leave them in its mailbox in the church office. Please continue to keep the committee and the project team in your prayers.

January 2010

The Building Committee, the architects, and many others are hard at work developing the detailed project drawings, schedules, and costs for First United’s building project. The committee met with the architects on December 10 and reviewed the status of the overall project. The committee reviewed the suggested colors and materials for the walls and floor coverings as well as the floor, roof, elevation and mechanical plans. The architectural and structural drawings were approximately 50% complete and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing drawings are scheduled to be 50% complete by December 22.

The committee also reviewed a first cut of a walk-through video animation of the new addition. This video is scheduled to be shown to the congregation before Christmas. Many other details are still being worked out by the committee and the architects, but the schedule calls for the drawing packages to be finalized by mid-January and the bid package released to potential contractors by January 20. The committee anticipates approximately a three- week bidding process with contract award approximately in mid-February. Formal ground breaking and construction start are expected sometime in late March, weather permitting. As always, the Building Committee encourages you to send your thoughts or questions to its committee email (building@firstunitedpres.org) or leave them in its mailbox in the church office. Please continue to keep the committee and the project team in your prayers.

December 2009

The Building Committee is working hard to finalize the design and plans for the new addition. Meetings were held on November 8 and November 17 to make decisions and review cost estimates. In order to keep to the schedule that calls for bid packages to be sent to potential contractors in January, many details such as the type of heating and air conditioning system to install and the finishes and furnishings to be used must be determined before the architects can complete the drawings and specifications required for bids. The committee has also interviewed several financial institutions and is close to choosing the one that will be used for financing.

Members of the committee are quite pleased with the overall look of the addition as they move closer to finalizing the design, and plan to share more of the details with the congregation in the near future. The committee welcomes comments and questions from the congregation to its email address (building@firstunitedpres.org) or to the mailbox in the church office.

November 2009

The Building Committee and its various subcommittees continue to work with the architects and others within the church to refine the plans, timelines and the associated costs of the project. The committee is anticipating being in a position to seek bids from contractors in the January 2010 timeframe and actual construction to start in the early spring as the weather breaks. During this process, the committee encourages you to send your thoughts or questions to its email address (building@firstunited pres.org) and requests your continued prayers.

October 2009

The FUPC Building Committee has met twice since last month and has been working closely with the architectural firm KRJ to revise and refine the overall plans for the new

addition. The Committee has split up into subcommittees to analyze and refine the cost estimates for various line items in the overall project cost summary and has established a separate subcommittee to deal with the aesthetics and decorating of the new addition. Allyson Callison has agreed to chair the subcommittee and at least two other members from the congregation-at-large will be asked to serve in addition to three members of the building committee. The committee is also working to complete a contract with KRJ for their continued services.

Most of the committee’s urgent work is geared towards collecting and presenting project information to the various committees of Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery in time to get the Presbytery approval for the overall project at its meeting in mid October. Please keep the committee in your prayers. An email address (building@firstunitedpres.org) has been established so that members of the congregation can contact the Building Committee with comments or questions.

September 2009

The FUPC Building Committee met for the first time on July 27. The first order of business was to elect officers: Tom Farquhar, Chair; Doug Sitton, Vice Chair; and Jim Nicholas, Recorder. The other members of the committee are Dean Christianson, Roger Cox, Marci Fitts, Stephanie Foltz, Shawn Lankford, and Melanie Shaw. Dr. Greg Stovell will serve as an ad hoc member with no voting privileges. The committee, along with representatives of the architectural firm of Kromm, Rikimaru, & Johansen (KRJ), reviewed the activities of the Strategic Planning & Implementation Team, the Fellowship and Christian Education and Spaces (FACES) Team, the results of the capital campaign, and the direction given the committee by the Session. Over the next few weeks, the committee will be working with the architects and others to develop a detailed timeline of activities and costs to proceed with the building project. The committee pledges to keep the lines of communication open with the congregation, the Session, the Presbytery, and all other project participants, and requests your continued prayers for its work. Look for updates in the Steeple, in bulletins, and on the website.

August 2009 - We Have A Building Committee!

Our Nominating Committee has been prayerfully at work considering all of the congregation’s nominations for our Building Committee. The following people were presented and approved at the July Session meeting. The committee covets your prayers and will seek continuous input from the congregation as the design and construction process gets underway. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact any of the Building Committee members: Dean Christianson, Roger Cox, Tom Farquhar, Marci Fitts, Stephanie Foltz, Shawn Lankford, Jim Nicholas, Melanie Shaw, and Doug Sitton. Dr. Greg Stovell will serve as an ad-hoc member of the committee.