More Parking

As noted in my last post, as we began the master plan work we made some important discoveries quite quickly. We wanted to consider how to maximize use of the facility and determine what we still needed to finish. Since we moved in so quickly and built out much of our building on the fast track, we wanted to talk more about effective and  efficient room use. We needed to be preparing for future growth, future ministry plans, more office and administrative space. However, we quickly discovered that first we had to deal with determining what additional parking, if any, we could, and would add. For example, while we can still accomodate more people on Sunday morning for worship and classes, we have little room to park their cars.

When we moved in 2004 we understood that we would be able to add a few spaces on our current property and that it would most likely incur significant expenses beyond the cost of paving or striping (mostly having to do various mitigations). However, our master plan team found the means of adding up to 200 spaces on our site, and when checking with the City it appeared that we might avoid some of the extra expenses. We decided to pursue this option aggressively - working with the City of Bellevue, our architects and various engineers to solidify the plan - using some of the funds from Project 2007. We have applied for a construction permit and hope to have approval from the city by the middle of summer. We will then have up to three years to actually complete the work, but we can immediately do more effective planning.

We can now develop a realistic master plan to finish what we started, add what will be needed, and determine how much it will cost to do it all. We can also create sensible phases and funding plans. So, when you see the “proposed work” go up please pray that our neighbors will be amenable and that the city will approve our plans without extra work (and cost!). Early estimates are that it would be $1.5 million to add what amounts to approximately 40% more parking. With an outstanding line of credit we are taking no further action other than the permit and getting estimates. But the leadership have asked the Business Administration Task Group to investigate possible funding scenarios for the future, that will pay down the loan balance and allow for parking and other possible masterplan additions and renovations. In the meantime the Elders have created a “Parking Expansion Fund” for those who might want to contribute towards that project.

 

Of Special Projects and Parking Lots

After so many years of seeing God work generously through his people at Crossroads I should not be surprised, but I still marvel at the faithful, consistent, and generous giving of this congregation. And that without a collection in the service! 

Many will be aware that we initiated a low key special giving project in May 2007. We hoped for $250,000 to be used toward some parking and lighting improvements, replacement of one of our four aging rooftop HVAC units, and some miscellaneous   improvements that need to be done around our entries. We also needed some funds to create a new facilities master plan.  Anything above that would go towards paying down our line of credit that remains after our move into the Eastgate facility.  

So, what happened?

I’ll leave the detailed accounting to the Business Administrator, but this short-term special giving project will wrap up on May 1 and we have received just under $250,000 through the end of March.

And, what got done?

We actually added HVAC capacity made some repairs to one of the rooftop units. The Fireside Room is now much more comfortable and controlled, as is the foyer and the youth room. The damaged lighting in the parking lot was repaired, and the most significant trouble spots in the parking lot were patched and repaired. We also began the process of designing new covered entries, but decided to hold off on constructing  them when we dug into the initial master plan work … a greater opportunity presented itself and we chose to change the scope of our work to focus on that. More on the that in my next post.

Oh yeah, as for our line of credit, between extremely generous contributions to the general fund, and some under-spending in our staffing and programs, we were able to make a significant “payment” on the line of credit too.