Renovation Project - Making a Space for All

On January 27th, the Vestry authorized the Renovation Committee to move forward on the renovation of the Nave and Chapel based on the nearly $1.5 million in pledges received.  This pledged amount will allow us to make the altar accessible for all, it will allow us to replace the heating system and the floor, and make the Nave more flexible. We are very grateful for the tremendous support of the St. George's community for this effort! 

The challenge we face, however, is that while the current amount pledged will allow us to Make a Space for All, it is not enough to support three critical items: chancel lighting ($55,000), under-floor duct work for the air conditioning system ($85,000), and incorporating the labyrinth into the Nave floor ($20,000).  

Chancel lighting refers to lighting changes that will allow for the proper lighting of the new altar that will now be lower and moved closer to the Congregation. We can reorient the existing lighting to the new altar location, but the altar will appear to be significantly underlit. While this is a project we could do later, it would be more cost effective to do now and it would substantially improve the worship experience.

The under-floor duct work relates to how the air conditioning system will work in the Nave.  Currently, we have two air handling units blowing air from the back to cool the Nave.  The current plan is to replace those units with newer units.  The current units are very noisy. The new units will be less noisy, but will still create significant noise in the Nave.  If we can replace these air handling units with an under-floor system, we can more effectively cool the Nave and we can dramatically reduce noise in the Nave, which will substantially enhance the ability to hear music and the spoken word.  The decision to move to an under-floor air handling system must be made by the end of February, because it must be done while the Chancel floor is opened up. 

Incorporating the labyrinth into the tile of the Nave floor is also a decision we need to make within the next 30 days.  Because we need to order to the tile for the Nave floor beginning in March. a decision on incorporating the labyrinth needs to be made by then.

In response to this situation, during the Annual Meeting, the Renovation Committee, members of the Vestry, and Shearon requested that the Congregation prayerfully consider making additional pledges to the Renovation to enable these additional items to be added to the project.  We ask that such additional pledges be made by the end of February so the Vestry can determine which, if any, of these additional items can be included.  The total amount needed is about $160,000.  If everyone who has pledged already were to increase their pledge by 11%, we would have sufficient additional pledges to add all three of these items to the project. Following our discussion at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, we have already received $49,000 in additional pledges. 

We hope that over the next several weeks you will prayerfully consider increasing your pledge or making a pledge if you have not already done so.  To make an additional pledge please fill out a pledge card and mark it as an "additional pledge."  Pledge forms are found in Narthex.  Again, if you are not able to increase your pledge, we thank you very much for the pledge you have already made!  If you have any questions, please contact David Grahn, Elena Keydel, or Michael Woods.