Foyer Renovation and Expansion Project FAQ - Part 2

What will be the ministry usage of our new café addition? The main purpose of our café will be to provide an area where people who are coming to Grace Church to worship can also spend time getting to know each other and connecting with others. Currently we have no such place. Other than bumping into each other in the lobby in between services, there is really no area where people can meet people and spend time sharing and developing relationships. This addition will also provide us with the largest room in our entire facility (with the exception of our auditorium/gymnasium) for larger events and programs, key of which will be a place where our entire youth group (who have far outgrown their current room) can gather for their main youth night on Wednesday nights. This café can also be used for special events of all kinds. The café will also allow us to provide a place in the mornings and during the day where the hundreds of parents who bring their kids to MorningStar Childcare/Academics and Lititz Christian School can spend time which will provide us with even greater opportunity to make a ministry connection with them. We would also like to see in the near future the ability to be able to open our café up during the day to our community who could use it to hold meetings or spend time away from the house or the office in an environment that gives them a “first touch” with Grace Church. These are just some of the ways we can utilize this new room. As you can see, the ministry opportunities for this expansion are seemingly limitless

How much will this renovation/expansion project cost? The total price of the project is $1,950,000. Along with all that is listed above, this figure includes upgrading the existing HVAC system; renovating the existing office area to prepare and change for the new office and café addition; and monies for two additional water and sewer EDU’s now required by the township after reviewing our current usage. In light of the anticipated rise in energy costs, this figure also includes a geothermal heating and air conditioning system which is more costly at the forefront but over time will provide better efficiency and lower energy costs. This figure also allows for unexpected overages and change orders. Lord willing, the total cost when finished will come in under this amount.

Why is the price higher than the one million figure we originally set as a goal? When we first started talking about this renovation/addition as part of our 5-year vision plan, the original goal was to renovate the lobby and build a café for a cost of around 1 million dollars which we would have in cash. Please remember that this was just that…a goal. But as you can see from the above listing of what this project includes, it ended up being more extensive than we originally were thinking. Along with the renovation of the existing foyer and the new café, we have also added to this project an office expansion and additional parking (both of which are real needs in our ministry as our staffing and congregation continues to grow). This project also is including some needed HVAC upgrades in our existing office and foyer area. Being that construction costs are so low right now, it is the conviction of our Elder Board that we will have no better opportunity to make these extra additions at the best price possible than we do right now.