Our Welcoming Piece Building Project

A Welcoming Piece Building Campaign Timeline

Building Campaign Timeline

How we got to where are now

 

2005 - Having explored the possibility of relocating Emmanuel to southeast Appleton the decision was made to stay at the corner of College & Meade.

 

February 5, 2006 - As part of a long range planning retreat, and using our mission statement which declares that “We welcome,” a group was formed to research what it would take to make our church  fully handicap accessible, so that we could “welcome” people to all levels of our church building.  As reported in the March 2006 church newsletter one of the top priorities for “We welcome” was:

“To enhance our ministry of welcoming by making our facility more accessible, specifically by working toward getting an  elevator.  A group is being formed to research what it will take to get this done.”

 

October 15, 2006 - Following the recommendation of our Accessibility Work Group which had been formed at the planning retreat, our annual Church Conference voted unanimously to form a Building Committee assigned with the tasks of getting the necessary state approved plans, doing the work necessary to raise the needed funds, getting estimates for the work needed, as well as obtaining all other necessary approvals.

 

March 18, 2007 - We held the commitment Sunday for our Welcoming Piece Capital Campaign.  By March 27th of that month we had received gifts and pledges to our capital campaign totaling $283,522.90!  

 

June 10, 2007 - A special church conference was held to vote on going ahead with our building project.  The motion passed by a vote of 39 for and 1 against.   Contracts could now be signed and construction could begin.  The following month the Building Committee selected Miron Construction as our primary contractor, High Tech Electric for the smoke and fire alarms, and W&L Roofing for the additional required roof work.

 

August to December 2008 - The construction necessary to bring an elevator and other needed accessibility upgrades is done.  The work included a new elevator, renovating the first floor Men’s Bathroom into a handicap accessible Unisex Bathroom, completely replacing the kitchen in the lounge, adding two “areas of rescue” on the second floor and in the basement, upgrading our ramp railing, adding smoke and fire alarm systems.  Work which was also part of this but completed later include a remodel of the Youth Room downstairs.

 

January 27, 2009 - We dedicated our new elevator and celebrated with an all church dinner following worship!

 

April 2009 - Having experienced significant leaks in the roof above the second floor Sunday School rooms this roof is replaced along and additional insulation is added.

 

August 2009 - Having been told that if we didn’t do something to maintain our parking lot soon we would have to replace it completely, the decision was made to have the necessary maintenance work done. 

 

October 2009 - A high efficiency heating system consisting of two boilers is installed.  Funds to make this happen were borrowed having calculated that the amount saved on lower heating bills will make the loan payments.  For the months of November 2009 to March 2010 with our new boilers heating the church our gas bill was more than $5,400 lower than the previous time with our old boiler.  This is more than an entire year’s payments on our loan.

 

March 2010 - As the initial three years of our “A Welcoming Piece” capital campaign comes to an end plans are made for the next phase of our project.  But we are also blessed by many continue to give their weekly or monthly gifts to our Building Fund.

 

May 2010 - The Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation comes to Emmanuel to conduct pre capital campaign interviews to determine where the people of Emmanuel are regarding a second capital campaign to pay down our existing debt from the first part of our project and to complete the three remaining projects on our Welcoming Piece to do list, upgrading our sanctuary, replacing our ramp and Meade Street doors, and replacing the remaining single pane windows.

 

June 2010 - Rev. Jean Nicholas from the Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation reported on the  Foundation’s findings from the pre capital campaign interviews conducted in May.  Their findings coming from these interviews were:

¨ Paying down our debt is the top high priority

¨ We are pleased with what we have done to date

¨ We appear ready to make the next step

¨ It will be a challenge but we are up to it

 

August 3, 2010 - With this information in hand our Finance Committee, Trustees, and Administrative Council met to formulate a plan to pay off our debt and to finish off our project.  The plan approved at the August 3rd Administrative Council meeting is to use 2/3 of all funds received to pay down our debt and the other 1/3 used to move forward on our remaining projects.  Priority 1 is to pay down our debt.

           The priorities established for the three remaining projects will be:

· Priority 1: The Ramp & Meade Street Doors.  There are several issues with these doors.  They are one of the first things people see as they enter our church and they are not in very good shape after nearly 40 years of use, which is a “Welcoming Piece” issue.  They have significant air leaks around the perimeters which make them very energy inefficient.  There are also security issues with these doors as they do not consistently lock completely.  The new doors will be more attractive, much more energy efficient, and have much better locking and will feature a card reader lock.  The estimated cost for this portion of the project is $15,000.

· Priority 2: Upgrading and remodeling the sanctuary.  Our sanctuary was last upgraded sometime in the 1980s.  It is in need of fresh new paint, new draperies, new carpeting, as well as a reconfiguration of the front of the sanctuary which will including making this area handicap accessible.  The estimated cost for this is $20,000,

· Priority 3: Replacing all single pane windows with thermo pane windows.  We still have 28 single pane windows, 11 in the Sanctuary, 11 in the Fellowship Hall, 2 in the Blue Room, 1 in the Candle Room, 1 in the two stairwells off the Sanctuary, and 1 in the choir room downstairs.  These windows are very energy inefficient and many are cracked.  Their replacement will make our church that much more energy efficient.  The estimated cost for this portion of the project is $50,000.

 

August 26, 2010 - Our Capital Campaign Committee met for the first time to begin the process of leading us through the process of raising the funds needed to pay down our debt and finish up what we began back in 2005 to make Emmanuel a more welcoming place!