“We’ve run out of space,” said Pastor Tom Robbins. “The expansion project will help us further our ministry efforts.”
Building committee chairman Charlynn Casey the project plans are to enlarge the Raleigh R. White youth activities center, build a new fellowship hall, expand its parking lot and create a three-block campus between Calhoun and Adams.
The current family life and youth centers are across the street from the 1913 sanctuary, at 102 N. Second St.
With 2,400 members, First Methodist has a combined Sunday morning attendance of 850 in three services. In the past two years, it has gained 388 new members, Ms. Casey said.
By closing Barton and North Second streets, the church will create a landscaped campus and expand parking. Ms. Casey said this will let churchgoers walk from the parking lots to the church and fellowship hall without dodging through traffic.
The new family life center - with about 15,000 square feet - will connect to the youth center, which will have 4,800 square feet when renovated. The fellowship hall will seat 495 for worship or 310 for dining. The family life center will also include an expanded kitchen and stage with updated audio-visual equipment.
The church’s busy weekday activities - everything from senior citizen groups to scouts - have long outgrown Dennis Hall. Included in the expansion will be more classrooms for youth and adults.
Sunday’s groundbreaking has been a long time coming. The church announced its first master plan in 2004, with another released the following year. However, when Robbins was called as pastor in 2006, expansion was put on the front burner.
The congregation has supported the third plan that opens the property, now divided by streets, to a more accessible campus. Members have pledged three-fourths and so far donated about a quarter of the projected cost, Ms. Casey said. Heimsath Architects of Austin has worked with the committee for the past year on the plans.
“Great care was taken to make sure the new family life center complimented the historic church building,” Ms. Casey said.
The sanctuary is a recorded Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission. Church member Earl Goodfellow will be liaison for the construction.
Renovations will exclude the historic building. The front curve of the fellowship will balance the curve of the sanctuary; the brick and arched windows will also create visual ties to the historic edifice.
Heimsath, which specializes in historic churches, also designed the parish hall and expansion of Christ Episcopal Church’s 1905 building just two blocks north.
The firm of Sanguinet & Staats of Fort Worth designed and built the present First United Methodist sanctuary in 1913 after the former church building burned.
The educational building, which now houses a pre-school, was added in 1954. Now under consideration is a second phase to renovate Dennis Hall into administrative offices and classrooms plus make parking lot additions.
pbenoit@temple-telegram.com
