That Session endorse the recommendation of the Rebuild Task Force to demolish the current Christian Education building and to enter into a program of designing a replacement structure which will meet the current and anticipated future needs of this congregation as expressed by Dr. W. Charles Arn, the church growth expert, by the visioning process and in the congregational survey.

The Task Force has previously recommended that the current Christian education (CE) building be refurbished and remodeled. The congregation approved the retention of a consultant to help conduct a capital campaign. What happened and Why?

Short Answer: After the task force began the functional programming phase with the architect to redesign the CE building as well as plan a build out of the second floor, south, of the Church Life Center for new Church offices, it became very apparent that this project will not meet the program needs. The Task Force took the results of the visioning process survey and then met with leaders of all of the functional areas to plan the future use of the CE Building. The CE Building has about 16,000 square feet. The review showed that we need about 24,000 square feet.

It is estimated that if we remodel the CE Building, we will only be adding 15 years to the life of this 35 year old building. New construction is anticipated to last 30 years.

If we always do what we've always done, we will always get what we have always got. In other words, we will not amaze and delight.

Historically CLPC has not conducted an on going Master Facilities Planning process. Only one master plan for the site was developed. However, it consisted of several small buildings. During the energy crisis in the '70s, it was discarded as being energy extravagant Subsequently, as needs were identified, the congregation took the necessary steps to meet the immediate. The notable exception to that rule was the Church Life Center (CLC). That facility was built with unfinished space on the second floor to handle growth.

Optimal Master Planning is necessarily done over time. For example, in the development of the drawings for the CLC, functional planning took over a year. This was after the congregation had a clear goal in mind. In 2001, with the discovery of mold in the Sanctuary building and then the CE building, CLPC has been forced into a Real Time Planning Process. Throughout the Sanctuary renovation project, the leadership has been faced with a constant stream of new information that has resulted in plans being made and changed at a breathtaking rate. Because we are forced into planning-as-we-go mode.

Whenever major renovations are done to a structure, an evaluation of the impact of new building codes must be made. The City of Houston is in the process of adopting the "Universal building Codes". To assess the feasibility of renovating the CE building, the architect suggested that we retain an expert in code compliance to better determine what the various costs and compromises will have to be made in order to get city permits. His report has been received and evaluated. Many issues, such as handicapped accessibility and fire safety have been identified. All of them can be addressed, but it will cost money and result in some major changes in behavior, for example, the East Attic space can no longer be used for storage.

The CE building is actually two structures: The first was the original structure (on the west end by the asphalt parking lot up to and including Fellowship Hall) it is a wood frame construction covered with stucco. It appears that a vapor barrier was not installed. Thus, there is great concern that we may find more rotting wood than was found on the north side of the Sanctuary building. So the integrity of the west wing is in question. The second structure, the east portion, is steel studs and framing covered by stucco. It appears that this section is in better shape.

Little Flexibility and Too Small

The CE building could be modified to accommodate the present needs of the children's Christian education and the Day School and the Visions program AS THEY ARE PRESENTLY CONFIGURED. In the end, we would have a perfectly good, thirty five-year-old building. This would be acceptable, except that program innovation would be limited.

During the discovery phase of Project Lemonade, committee members visited a number of successful Sunday school programs. What they found is a different model of helping kids learn about Christ. Our CE Program has not adopted this model, but if we simply refurbished the existing building, our flexibility in the future will be limited.

AND

Too Small. There would be some needs not being met if we were just to remodel the CE building. Depending on the final design, administrative offices, the youth program, music storage, adult education space will be compromised to some extent thus it would not be responsive to the congregation's expressed need.

The vision for adult education was for ten more spaces. This plan will render 8 more with two of them being shared with children, requiring the hauling in and out chairs and tables. The new church office space was barely adequate for the current staff (pastoral offices would be smaller than previously configured) and would provide for no more growth. A church our size should have three or four full time pastors. We currently have two and a third.

Thus, the Task Force is strongly recommending that the present CE building be razed and a new two story structure be designed to house classrooms, support and storage space for children (Sunday school ages two years old through the seventh grade, Day School and Visions) and Administrative and Pastoral Offices on the second floor.

Putting the Administrative offices on this end of the campus will enhance our ability to identify a front door. Other design alternatives were not satisfactory in this respect either.

In addition, the Task Force is requesting that it be authorized to engage in functional programming with the architect to address a porte cochere to provide cover in front of the sanctuary, a covered walkway to tie the three buildings together, to design additional parking and design a carillon or other structure which would clearly indicate that we are a church.

In summary, for two million dollars we keep our old building with a shiny coat of paint and a few new windows. We will have a clean and bright same old same old

For four million dollars we construct a building which is first, custom designed to serve multiple needs as identified today , yet flexible (as the CLC has been flexible) and serve our needs until we grow so large that we will have to move.

We believe that CLPC is being called to serve the future, not cling to the past.

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