It is the spring of 2011 and the Autumn Ridge congregation is studying possibilities for the CENTER at Autumn Ridge, the new addition for recreation, education and service. During February and March we are asking God for wisdom. In May, 2010, the congregation pledged $2.8M toward sharing Hope, an initiative that provided $150,000 for Compassion Evangelical Hospital in Guinea, West Africa, and $2.65M for the CENTER at Autumn Ridge.
What is the history of the CENTER design, and where do we stand now?
The original plan for the Autumn Ridge Church campus on Salem Road called for a multi-purpose room that could serve as a gymnasium some of the time. The original plan called for this space to be shared with what is now the Common Grounds Café! It is hard to imagine that room alternating between basketball and coffee, especially with one wall shared with the worship center.
A second possibility was also considered in 2004 during final design. This would have made the current junior high school room into a multi-purpose room with sports capability. That option was also set aside, as the room took on education and worship functions.
This left indoor recreation for the future. While the 16th Street church facility had provided a gymnasium to use and share, the Salem Road campus lacked this feature.
Just months after taking occupancy of the Salem Road campus in December, 2005, studies began to consider how new recreation and education space could be provided. The vision from the outset was space that could serve the congregation and be shared with the community as a basis for outreach and building relationships. The Salem Road master campus plan called for multiple additions, as necessary, to serve future community, education, worship, and administration functions. The possibility of a recreation/education addition was studied from 2006-2009, when the building implementation committee was re-formed to analyze the possibility, and provide a program of functions, a conceptual design, and estimates. The project began with a needs assessment and evaluation of current facility use patterns at the time.
The recommendation was an addition with multipurpose room for recreation and special events, lobby interaction space, education space, and support functions such as a kitchen and changing rooms. Specifications were set for the number of people to be served in education and lobby, but the size of the multipurpose room was a variable in the design.
As proposed to the congregation in November, 2009, the CENTER at Autumn Ridge was a schematic design including a multipurpose room large enough for two high school basketball courts. The full CENTER design (including two levels of education space) was 36,000 square feet in size, with a cost estimate of $4.7M. This created a fund-raising goal for the construction portion of the sharing Hope initiative.
Pledges were received during the spring on 2010, with a 3-year generous pledge total of $2.65M. The Building Implementation Committee then undertook a study of how to invest $2.65M toward starting the CENTER. The design goal was to complete the entire exterior of the facility, even if the interior was incomplete. This concept was chosen to minimize future expense and construction logistics. In order to stretch $2.65M to complete the entire exterior as well as the multipurpose space and lobby, it was determined that the size of the multipurpose space could be modified slightly. This was reasonable, since the CENTER programmatic functions never had a specific requirement for the size of the multipurpose room. It was determined that a room to accommodate two junior high school basketball courts would be ideal. Space allocations for education, greeting, and support functions did not change.
Architectural design was then completed, bids were received, and the revised CENTER project bids came in $110,000 under the $2.65M target. This, along with a $50K construction contingency budget, provided resources to begin finishing some of the unfinished areas and provide an excellent flooring solution for the multipurpose room.
It is important to note that this combination of circumstances changed the CENTER scenario from the original 36,000 square foot addition with $4.7M completion cost estimate, to a 28,271 square foot addition with a $3.7M completion cost estimate. Reducing the size of the CENTER by 21% lowered the estimated completion cost by $1M.
With excellent pricing, good weather, and good timing, this created an opportunity that was shared with the congregation in 2011: the $2.65M committed to the CENTER now represents between 80% and 87% of the total needed to complete the facility: 80% if commercial construction is used to finish, 87% if a combination of commercial and volunteer labor is used.
This opportunity is important to consider: being within $370K - $606K of the completion cost means that the potential savings (~$100K) to complete work during this construction cycle are very significant. This $100K represents 17-27% of the total completion costs for the CENTER, a significant penalty to pay for waiting additional years for a future fund raising initiative. The $100K savings would result from avoiding removal and re-installation of construction equipment, and by avoiding inflation.
Thus, the congregation faces an opportunity and a decision. Waiting as planned is a reasonable option. Asking if current givers and new givers wish to participate in bridging the gap toward finishing the last 20% of the task is also a reasonable option.
It is time to pray, seeking wisdom and unity in this exciting opportunity. It is also time to share questions and ideas so that the board and congregation can be thoughtful and gracious in this strategic decision.
Jim Maher
Chair, BIC
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