Sudbury United Methodist Church
Facility Study Committee
Minutes of Meeting 2/04/2015
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. by Chair Richard Morris. Present were:
Committee members Chair Richard Morris, Kate Altman (substituting for Karen Bowler), Jennifer
Eaddy, Cassandra Allwell (representing Sunny Hill), Patrick Helsingius, and Bill Cooper and architect
Doug Sacra. Tadj Gozdeck and Pastor Joel Guillemette joined the meeting at approximately 8:15 p.m.
1. Chair Morris opened the meeting with a prayer.
2. The committee appointed Bill Cooper to take minutes of the meeting.
3. Review of Minutes – The minutes of the January 21 meeting as edited by Chair Morris and architect
Sacra were reviewed and accepted.
4. Historical Synopsis – The Committee reviewed the historical background of the formation of Sunny
Hill, including how it came to be located between the sanctuary and the fellowship hall and how
what was then appropriate is now seen as impeding interaction among church attendees because of
the distance between the sanctuary and the fellowship hall. The discussion also touched on
increasing the shared use of the classroom space by Sunny Hill and the Sunday School and how
regulations affecting preschools often complicate the sharing of space.
5. Architect – Doug reviewed the work he has been doing and distributed updated existing condition
plan drawings and space measurements of the first floor and basement.
6. Needs Assessment – A tabulation of the results of the identification and prioritization of church
needs at the February 1 congregational meeting was reviewed (see attached document). That
assessment showed the top three needs to be: 1. Better fellowship space 2. Upgrading the HVAC
systems 3. Repair of the parking lot. Doug asked the committee to review the full list of needs
developed from the congregational meeting, noting that some of the items might be reasonably be
considered in groups.
The committee noted that educational space, including a nursery with adjacent restroom, should also
be assigned a high priority. Doug recommended that the possibility of shared used of Sunny Hill
classrooms and the use of the classrooms recently rehabilitated beneath the sanctuary and Hawes
Hall be fully investigated prior to a decision to add new classroom space as part of the building
program.
The committee also noted that several groups at Sunday’s congregational meeting listed the need for
additional conference rooms. Doug suggested that since several rooms underneath the sanctuary and
Hawes Hall might also be used as conference rooms, along with other rooms such as the library, the
need for new conference room spaces and the locations of those spaces should also be fully
investigated.
7. Fellowship Hall – There was a discussion of the location and impact of a proposed new fellowship
hall that would provide space for congregational socializing after services and for general use at
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other times. The location suggested was just to the southeast of the present sanctuary. The restrooms
there would be accessible to those attending services without walking to the front of the sanctuary.
The space was sized to accommodate 120 people at 15 5’-round tables. The same space could be set
up to accommodate up to about 300 people with an assembly layout with just chairs or 200 or more
at closely-spaced rectangular tables. A removable platform or stage might be included at one end.
Located adjacent to the new fellowship hall would be related spaces such as table and chair storage,
linen storage, kitchen facilities and restrooms. At this point it is unclear how this alternative would
impact the present entrance to Sunny Hill.
The use of Hawes Hall if a new fellowship hall were built was discussed. Patrick volunteered to
speak with the Savoyards regarding their expected needs, including a stage. Alternate uses of some
portion of the space might include classrooms, meeting rooms or an expanded choir room, if
acceptable to the music program, which would enable the existing choir room to be converted to
meeting space.
8. Costs – As an aid to guiding our thinking on the scope of the proposed project, Doug provided initial
very rough estimates of the construction costs of the top three needs mentioned above: $1,260,000
for fellowship space, $442,000 for HVAC replacement, and $440,000 for parking lot repair, totaling
$2,142,000. To this construction cost, 30% needs to be added to cover contingency, design,
engineering, furniture and equipment and other related costs, bringing the project total to
$2,784,000. If chancel improvements and handicap accessibility to all existing areas were included,
the final total would be about $3,084,000. Since these renovations easily total more than 30% of the
church’s present assessed valuation, there likely would be other expenses mandated by the town to
bring all areas of the church up to present-day code requirements.
Doug noted that Carter Memorial UMC raised capital funds of about six times its annual pledge
budget. For SUMC that would mean raising approximately $3,500,000.
9. Further Review of Needs – Doug asked that the committee review the entire list of needs developed
at the February 1 congregational meeting with the objective of identifying items that should be
included in a “maximum” list and also items that could be dropped, taking into account the cost
consideration described above. He suggested that these be evaluated by asking whether they were
important or not and by asking if they would be easy to do later. He also needs direction on whether
to include chancel renovations.
Jen Eaddy urged that there be a specific definition of “education space.” A general discussion
ensued regarding sharing rooms across ages and grades and alternative uses for spaces.
10. Future Meeting Schedule – At the next scheduled meeting on February 25, Doug plans to present a
“maximum” scheme for discussion. Further committee meetings are scheduled for March 18, April
8, April 27, and May 20. Congregational meetings are set for April 12 and June 14. Presentations
are scheduled to the Trustees on June 1, to the Church Council on June 9 and to a Church
Conference on June 28.
The meeting adjourned at 10:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Cooper
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Building Needs and Priorities Developed at
February 1 Congregational Meeting
Attachment to Minutes of FSC Meeting 2/04/15
Score*
Need
FSC/Architect Questions/Comments
Site Improvements
18
Parking lot - organized, with lines, drainage,
lights & trees
9
Ground water drainage, keep moisture out of
basement, control humidity
Assume away from the building to reduce mold &
mildew. Identify source of problems. Could also be
a "Systems" project.
2
Grass area in front of church
For gathering in good weather or just to look good?
Outdoor soccer field
What size?
Systems/Space Enhancements (Better Quality, Not Larger or More)
24
New HVAC system
More efficient, less maintenance
5
Technology access in building - Wi-fi
2
Energy efficient windows
2
Organ for Davison Chapel
Everywhere? Newer additions & Sanctuary are
already double pane.
On-line streaming of worship service
Add video to audio systems in Sanctuary
Pew cushions
Better signage
Program Space
46
Fellowship space / enlarged narthex
Should enter before entering Sanctuary. Could also
have open space for gathering near Chapel
9
Additional conference rooms; some larger
Specifically for adults? For church use only or for
everyone's use?
8
Flexible chancel & alter space
To accommodate more options for worship & music
5
Nursery & bathrooms on ground floor,
accessible to everyone
4
Add AV room for Sanctuary
4
Update kitchen, modify to facilitate serving,
increase room for volunteers to work together
in social way.
2
Dedicated Sunny Hill space
2
More Choir space
Assume this is for people to occupy who are
controling sound and video during service
In the Choir room or in the chancel?
3
Score*
Need
FSC/Architect Questions/Comments
Program Space (Continued)
2
Bathroom near entrance
Could be the same bathroom near the nursery
2
Labyrinth (indoor) for meditation
Just pattern on floor. In tile in Chapel?
2
Restroom accessibility/flexibility.
Addition of a family restroom.
What does flexibility mean? A family restroom with a
changing table? Near nursery or Sanctuary?
1
Sports facility and stage
1
Bigger chancel
1
Additional worship & music storage.
Instrument storage space.
To accommodate worship & music programming
Do we need the Hawes Hall stage?
Enhance Hawes Hall functionality
Sunday School classrooms above ground
Abandon basement, add 2nd floor classrooms
Classrooms in basement - provide bathrooms
& sinks or move classrooms upstairs. Is it
safe to get out of basement in an emergency?
Yes; all basement classrooms have two means of
egress via stairs.
Sunday School office & storage space close
to classrooms
Multi-use library space; larger library (2
mentions)
Update Chapel
Aesthetics? Audio-visual capabilities?
Make better use of Chapel
Enhance access to Chapel
Assume this means more direct access from front of
building
Better shared Sunny Hill space
Coffee house area
Assume this could be a shared space with lighting,
tables, etc.
Better utilization of space - not more
Assume this means multi-function capability as well
as sharing of space
Getting around Sunny Hill space
Ability to move from one side of church to the other
without passing through Sunny Hill when in session
Easy to use elevator
Youth Group meeting space
New meeting space or would enhancement of
existing space under Hawes Hall suffice?
*The attendees divided into five groups of about eight persons each. Each group developed a list of building
needs, after which each member in each group selected the top three needs in the group's list. Some groups
indicated 1st, 2nd and 3rd priorities; others did not assign priorities. Points were assigned to each need as
follows: 3 for each 1st priority need, 2 for each 2nd priority and 1 for each 3rd priority. Unprioritized top three
needs received 2 points each. The five lists of needs and the points assigned to each need were then merged
into a single list, and the points of identical or similar needs were combined to produce a total score for each of
the needs in the combined list.
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