November 2, 2008 Update
Update from the Board on Current Facilities Plans

One of Chart & Compass (C&C) 2010’s major components is the significant expansion of our existing campus and update of our current facilities (please go to http://www.dallasuu.org/compass/ for a detailed explanation and history of C&C 2010). Our Facilities Planning Team (FPT) has been working very hard on this since 2005. By last summer we had arrived at an initial set of plans, which you have been briefed on; they are posted in the hallway east of Channing Hall.

When we began a detailed budget analysis matching initial construction plans to initial bids from contractors and subcontractors earlier this year, we discovered that those plans would come in well over our planned budget. The Board of Trustees therefore asked the FPT to work with our Senior Minister, C & C Leadership Team, and church staff to further assess and prioritize our construction needs based on C&C 2010. Using that prioritization, we asked them to work with our architects to come up with a revised plan which would be closer to our original budget. Our FPT did just that, and presented that revised plan to us in August.

The revised plan includes among other things:

• Construction of an approximately 25,000-square-foot building at the south end of our campus to house adult religious education rooms, offices, the Center for Public Dialogue, and additional children’s religious education rooms;
• Reconfiguring the south end of the existing religious education building so it can connect to the new building;
• Renovations to the existing religious education building to provide larger nursery spaces, children’s choir rooms and increased storage for our music programs;
• A large-capacity elevator, additional restrooms, and support functions for the church’s administrative and program staff, including conference rooms, an employee break-room, and new staff workrooms; and
• Improved landscaping and new parking lots at the east end of the church property and along St. Andrews at the south end of the property.

In essence, our planning team has crafted a phased project. The main difference between the initial plan and the revised plan is the deferral of construction of an entirely new fellowship hall, and retaining Channing Hall for the foreseeable future. Otherwise, many major elements of the original plan are similar or remain the same. The revised plan represents an approximately 75% increase in the square footage of the buildings on our church campus. Perhaps most importantly, current cost estimates indicate that the revised plan would allow us to address our major C & C 2010 priorities—adult religious education space, children’s religious education space, additional administrative space, additional music program space, room for the Center for Public Dialog, and various smaller miscellaneous priorities—while sticking closer to the initial budget the Board had set.

The Board considered the Senior Minister’s, C&C Leadership Team’s, and FPT’s recommendations at our meetings in August and September, and asked them to continue with the revised plan. This means that we have two more “planning gates” to go through before we must finally decide whether to commit to the actual construction.

Architexas (our architects) anticipates being able to complete “design drawings” by mid- to late December, and Joe Funk Construction (our at-risk contractor) should then be able to provide an updated, more accurate cost-estimate (probably by late December or early January). The Board will then review the results with the Senior Minister, C&C Leadership Team and FPT. Based on that review, if the Board decides to go forward, Architexas will be asked to provide “construction drawings,” which would probably be complete by late March or early April 2009, and the revised project would go out for final bid.

If we have proceeded that far, the Church will be at the final decision point with respect to moving forward with actual construction once the final bids are in— most likely in April 2009. If the Church does then decide to go forward with construction, it will be under a contractor-at-risk contract, meaning that we will have known and “locked-in” constructions costs except to the extent changeorders are later made by the Church.

This is obviously one of the more significant endeavors ever undertaken by this church. As we move forward, you will start to see updated drawings appearing on the walls outside of Channing Hall, and will receive more information from, and have the ability to converse with, the Board. We look forward to this process with a measured sense of excitement.

Finally, the Board wants to offer special praise and thanks to our Facilities Planning Team—Steve Crozier (former team-leader), James Snell (current teamleader), Claudia Dixon, David Riehl, Judy Youngblood, and Richard Bernacki (who, with his construction background, brings wonderful gifts as our “owner’s representative”). They have all poured their hearts and souls into this project (as shown by the quality of the work), and for that we are extremely grateful.

There will be more to follow as the planning progresses!
~ The Board of Trustees