We have been blessed here at Trinity Bible Church with our wonderful church building and grounds, and more recently we have been incredibly blessed with growing numbers of people that are using those facilities! Starting seven years ago with an eye to the future, the leadership at TBC put together a master plan for expanding our facilities to accommodate our growing number of people. In these last few years the Lord provided enough funds for us to complete Phase 1 and expand our parking lot and improve the landscaping of our grounds. This was a major improvement, allowing us to fit many more cars in the parking lot, improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety, have a bluestone surface that is easier to maintain, and also much improved the curb appeal of our church with trees, shrubs, curbs, and mulched areas.
Why Are We Doing This?
The Lord continues to work in and use Trinity Bible Church to fulfill His mission in the greater Kearsarge area, and as our church body has grown, so has our need for greater capacity in several key areas--namely, physical classroom and storage space. We are currently raising money for construction of a building expansion that will add more than 1,200 square feet of space and help alleviate much of the pressure we are currently facing with regard to overflowing classrooms. In addition, the expansion will allow us to better serve our food pantry clients with a more functional (and inviting) entry and serving area.
Next Steps
Last year we set a financial goal of hitting $100,000 in the fund by March 2016, and by the Lord’s provision we met that goal. Praise the Lord! One of the original options we explored was to split the construction of the addition into two phases: first build the framework of the lower level of the addition, then add the second level and finish it when enough money was raised. If that were the case, we would have started construction this summer.
After recent conversations with our architects (who will also be managing the construction process), we came to the conclusion that it would be a wiser decision to build the entire addition at once instead of splitting it into two phases. It will save a substantial amount of money because it will avoid ongoing management and supervision fees, avoid issues with permits expiring and contractor quotes expiring and material costs going up between building the shell and finishing it off, and we will also not need to worry about winterizing the unfinished building until construction starts again. With this new decision, the building addition will be 100% finished earlier than planned, and by spending less money overall.
Financial Overview
We can’t provide solid numbers yet because official quotes can’t be gathered from contractors until we have the final blueprints drawn up by the architects (which will take 1-2 months to complete from the time we request them.) But here are some very rough numbers to give you an idea of where things stand:
| $7,000 | Estimate to develop final blueprints. |
| $210,000 | Rough estimate for construction costs (at $175/sq ft) |
| $38,000 | Estimated Project management costs (architectural firm) |
| $38,000 | 15% buffer for unpredicted overages and material cost increases |
| $293,000 | Total estimate to complete addition |
| -$111,154 | Current balance of building fund |
| $181,846 | Remaining estimated need to fund-raise to complete project |
Proposed Timeline: *
|
Now through 2017 |
Continue to raise money for the Building Fund |
|
Winter 2016-2017 |
Final blueprints (for construction) created |
|
Late Winter / Spring 2017 |
Construction bids collected and chosen |
|
Late Summer 2017 |
Construction of the addition starts and completed before winter |
* The above timeline is highly dependent on an increased and consistent level of giving between now and next summer. By God’s grace we are hoping to be able to break ground next summer. If there are not enough funds available by then, we will have two options: 1) wait until the summer of 2018 to break ground, or 2) use a small short-term loan to fund remainder of the project.
Please be in prayer together with us for the following needs:
- that funds would continue to come in with the new goal of completing the expansion projectstart to finish in the period of one Summer season
- for the BELT & the Elders as we continue to seek God’s guidance in the timeline andmanagement of this project, and as we strive to be good stewards of the Building Fund
- God’s guidance in finding the right builder for this project
Trusting in Him,
The B.E.L.T. (Building Expansion Leadership Team) & the TBC Elders