Capital Campaign
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Building Committee & Capital Campaign Update
September 2010
The leaves are changing colors and so is our Church Building at 145 Main Street. Well, not so much changing color as restoration to the uniform classic white in the New England Tradition. Carpenters have been repairing damaged clapboard and moldings. Painters have been busy scraping old flaking paint, priming, and putting on fresh new coat. Roofers have been removing and replacing old shingles. Truly, this is an exciting time for our congregation.
Here are some more details on what has been happening. The steeple has been completely scraped and repainted. Some damaged clapboards were discovered when the painters went to scrape and a few of the boards just fell off! With such an older structure as ours, a few things like this were anticipated. New pieces were fit, nailed in place and the painting continued. It was hoped that while a high lift was on site we could also install the new weathervane so generously donated by Larry Heath and Shirley Autio. Removing the old, damaged support turned out to be more of a challenge than anyone imagined and will require some specialized help to get this part taken care of. The cost of keeping the high lift on site until we could figure out what to do was going to be too expensive, so the decision was made to come back to the weathervane installation at a later time.
The roof over the sanctuary was replaced, actually only half of it. One half had been replaced less than 10 years ago and in the judgment of the roofer was in quite satisfactory condition so no need to do anything there. The roofing material over the vestry has also been replaced. Exterior work should be finished in the next 2-3 weeks.
Interior work will begin on Monday Sept 27 and will require us to vacate the Sanctuary for a few Sundays. The Board of Worship and Music has made arrangements for services to take place in the Vestry during this time. Apparently, this is not the first time that the Vestry has been used for this purpose. Stella Chase recalls some past winters where the Congregation met in the Vestry to save on heating costs.
Interior work will involve removing the pews, taking up the well trodden carpeting, reinforcing the sanctuary floor, installing new carpeting and reinstalling the pews. The interior walls and ceiling will also be repainted. Stacy Lamson, Liz Morris, and Gay Main have been through countless sample books of carpeting to come up with something that is traditional in look but with a contemporary feel and also complies with codes for fire retardant materials. This group was also the beneficiary of a kind friend of MSCC, a professional interior architect, who offered some additional recommendations on color choices and visual enhancements. A lot of time was also invested in finding a firm to make pew cushions to complete our new look. Again, color, cost and fire codes had to be balanced along with budget since the cushions have to custom made for our slightly curved pews.
The other big and important thing to be done is the installation of new furnaces. Both gas and oil fired heating systems were evaluated and a natural gas forced hot air system was the clear price winner. Bids have been evaluated and a contractor identified. This work will occur in parallel with the other interior work so we should be in fine shape when the brilliant colors of New England autumn yield to the brisk days of winter. We will have to say goodbye to the clanging pipes that would raise their joyful tune as Joan began her sermon and the frosty lacework of condensed steam on the windows.
Lastly, there was also some work done on the sagging and uneven Vestry floor. There was the fear that the wood flooring and support beams had deteriorated from water exposure and might need replacement. It turns out that the wood is fine but the foundation pillars supporting the floor beams had settled and everything settled along with it. The floor has been stabilized and strengthened in a few spots. The unevenness will have to stay for a bit longer. The possibility of jacking the structure to get back to mostly even didn’t go very far when it was realized that a lot of walls would crack severely if we attempted this. It will be dry and safe though.
Another important part of the Capital Campaign was the Mission Component of which 5% of pledged funds (about $20,000 currently) would be set aside. The Board of Fellowship will administer the funds and has set up a local grant program that will award $5,000 each year for the next 4 years to a deserving group or individual that has an idea to fill an unmet social need in the Amesbury area. The application process will start after the first of the New Year.
We have been truly blessed by many individuals who continue to contribute financially and with their time to this current effort to preserve our time-honored church facility. There has been exhilaration and disappointment at different times, but never a lack of faith or commitment. Our vision of being able to “flip” the sanctuary and improve handicap accessibility is something that we were not able to realize at this time. The costs of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act are just beyond our means for the moment which necessitated a moved to Plan B. However, this may be one of those cases where our Plan B is just God’s Plan A for us.
