Friday, January 21, 2005
At our Congregational Meeting, we approved a total construction budget of $900,000. That total includes the amount raised through the capital campaign, a mortgage, and monies from our savings (building fund). This is more than we thought we would be able to budget when we last wrote here. We hope this total will allow us to build both the new sanctuary and cover the atrium. There still will need to be some compromises. The architects will re-design based on this budget and we will return to the congregation with their plan at another congregational meeting soon.

Sunday, December 2, 2005

What’s the total on the capital campaign now?

Our congregation and its friends have committed more than $420,000 to the Window of Opportunity Campaign. It’s an amazing achievement that reflects our excitement about and commitment to this project!

Does more money mean more building? Or less mortgage?

We have received a very preliminary estimate from a contractor showing that the current design will cost more than we originally believed. That means we need to phase our expansion to keep it within our budget. We’ll build the new sanctuary now, and in a few years, we’ll enclose the atrium.

But isn’t that a real disappointment?

Well, yes and no. Of course, we’d love to build it all now, but we are also grateful that we learned the plan needs to be phased before we actually start construction. Kimi tells us that many churches find out only after they’re in the middle of construction that they can’t afford the building they think they’re going to get. We got our bad news – and most building projects have some bad news – early enough to adjust our plans.

The good news is that we will get to move into our new expanded sanctuary on schedule. We’ll have the elbow room we need to accommodate our growing congregation, and according to our consultant, Jerry King, within five years we’ll be ready to finish the project.

What happens next?

Our building committee is working with the architects as they adjust the plans to allow us to build the expansion in phases. The finance committee is working on the financing plan. There will be updates at the January congregational meeting from both committees.

The congregation’s main tasks now are to keep those campaign payments coming in and to get ready to deal with the inevitable disruption that construction brings -- with a sense of humor. We still expect to break ground on the project in early June.

Sunday, November 21, 2004: We now have pledges exceeding $411,000 for our capital campaign. We have a total of 104 pledges in, including 13 alumni (mail-in pledges) and 6 high schoolers. There are still some outstanding canvass visits to complete.

Sunday, November 14, 2004: We have now exceeded $404,000 in capital campaign pledges. In our yard, you can now see an outline of the new building. Be sure to walk out there and stand in our new space visualize our future.

Sunday, November 7, 2004: Congratulations and Thanks to us all! We have surpassed our original goal of raising $350,000. This morning we announced that we have pledges for $364,000. But there are still a number of people to be canvassed. We look forward to reporting an even higher level of commitment soon.

Sunday, October 24, 2004: Our Capital Campaign Kick-Off Event (Oct. 23) was wonderful. About 100 Northwesters joined to hear more about the campaign and to watch a presentation by Robert Black and Wayne Appleyard, Sunstructures architects. Some of the visuals they showed us are available here:

An exterior view of the building (Note: the small inset picture was painted by Paul J.)
Site plan (showing the floor plan of both old and new spaces)
3-D cutaway view of the above view
Seating plan (this is just one possible way for the seats to be arranged)
An interior view of the new worship space 

We reported on Sunday that we have already received $264,500 from 28 pledges. (Our goal is $350,000.) Canvassers will be meeting with Northwesters for more pledges in the next few weeks. In addition to the adults in the congregation, our youth are making pledges, and we are hoping for more pledges from "alumni" of our congregation. Watch here for periodic updates on our totals.

Sunday, September 19, 2004: Sunstructures architects, Robert Black and Wayne Appleyard, presented a building concept (in its very early stage of development) and their "green" sustainable approach to architecture to the congregation. The congregation voted unanimously to proceed with this firm to design our new worship space. Immediately following that, the congregation also unanimously approved a capital campaign goal of $350,000. With that amount raised from members and friends of the church, and a mortgage of $450,000, we have established a budget of $800,000 for the renovation. View the first (very early) conceptual drawings for this space created by Sunstructures.

And, if you are interested in more information about Sunstructures and some of their previous work, here are a couple of documents you might want to review:. NOTE: Because these include photos, some are large files and may take a while to open/download.

1) Detroit Community High School  
2) Leslie Science Center 
3) Steiner High School - part 1 and Steiner High School - part 2
4) First UU Church Ann Arbor (R.E. Building)

Saturday, October 23, 2004: We'll kick off the capital campaign with a gala dinner. Be sure to save this date on your calendar! Details shortly.

Capital Campaign Committee 
Nancy & Tim Beckett have agreed to co-chair the Capital Campaign.

Working with them will be:
Chris Doozan, ex officio
Dorothy Amberger, Alumni List Chair
Lisa Fry, Communications Co-Chair
Diana Kohler, Communications Co-Chair
Beata Lamparski, Space Planning/Design Team Chair
John Amberger, Leadership Gifts Co-Chair
David Fry, Leadership Gifts Co-Chair
Sam Kirkland, General Gifts Co-Chair
Paul Manzella, General Gifts Co-Chair
Doug Whitehouse, Follow-up Co-Chair
Jane Williams, Follow-up Co-Chair
Nancy Beckett, Kick-off Event Co-Chair
Colleen McInerney, Kick-Off Event Co-Chair
Ted Danielson, Campaign Finance Chair

Diana & Lisa have already recruited Mary Lynn Treppa and Shanon Kirkland-Morgan to work on communications. Jim Gobeski, Bud Felton, and Paul Janus are working with Beata on the space planning/design team.

We Need You! If you are interested in being involved in any aspect of this campaign, please contact Nancy Beckett -- or any of those listed above. Everyone is welcome -- and needed!

Documents Related to Our Campaign: We will post documents of interest here, adding the newest ones at the top of the list below. 

We're Glad You Asked (Part 2: Questions about the architectural plan) (Posted 9/15/04)

We're Glad You Asked (Part 1: Questions about funding) (Posted 9/17/04)

First Capital Campaign Newsletter was mailed to the congregation on August 12.

Results of our feasibility study (conducted by the UUA Consultant, Jerry King)

Comments made by members and friends during the information sessions held in early May. (Comments refer to plans A1 and A2 as shown below.)

Drawings of the original master plan for Northwest UU and an adaptation of that plan. Remember, these are both still preliminary. A committee worked on further adaptations and now the architect is preparing a revised Master Plan for us.