Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church, Loudonville New York
Facilities Improvement Plan
May 2013
Background
In recent years members of the Good Shepherd congregation have noted some bothersome issues about
our facilities. Some of these pertain to comfort and appearance; others, more importantly, pertain to our
ability to carry out our ministry and outreach activities. The present effort is an attempt to review these
concerns, and identify and carry out improvements that address them.
To assist us and give us some structure in this work, during the winter of 2012 Good Shepherd brought
on an architect, Mosaic Associates. In our first couple of meetings with Mosaic, including a session
during the February 2012 Church Council Retreat, we related a long list of these facilities issues.
As recommended by Mosaic, Good Shepherd formed a Facilities Committee to oversee their work on
behalf of the Church Council and the members of Good Shepherd. The Facilities Committee is cochaired by Council members Marc Kleinhenz and Mark Silo and includes JoAn Walker, Marilyn Graver,
Neil Olsen, and Dorothy Wimble.
Over the course of several meetings during the spring and summer, Mosaic developed a number of
options for addressing these issues along with cost approximations.
In January 2013 the Facilities Committee conducted a survey intended to establish the church members’
opinions on what priority objectives to try to satisfy in developing a plan for our church facilities.
Based on our work with Mosaic to date and the results of our membership survey and input from ELCA
as described in this report, the Facilities Committee submitted this plan to the Good Shepherd Church
Council on May 14, 2013 and received Council authorization to proceed with the next step in the
process: engaging the full Good Shepherd membership.
We now respectfully present this plan for review by the Good Shepherd congregation.
Priorities Survey
In December 2012 and January 2013 Good Shepherd’s members were asked to identify their highest
priorities from among fifteen potential objectives for guiding our building improvement work. Making
the facilities more energy efficient and updating heating and lighting proved the highest priority,
followed by updated rest rooms with compliant disability access and providing a larger modern kitchen.
The listed objectives that provide more efficient use of our space or additional space for the various
ministries conducted at church, especially Sunday School, were the next level of priority. This would
include space for serving a growing congregation. A lower level of priority was placed on the interior
and exterior aesthetics of our sanctuary.
Potential projects for accommodating all the identified objectives were identified by our consultant and
discussed among the committee. We believe that the draft plan detailed below is an achievable outline
for accomplishing the congregation’s priority objectives.
Review by ELCA Representative
In April 2013, Pastor Knarvik and members of the Facilities and Finance Committees and Church
Council met with an advisor from the ELCA Mission Improvement Fund, a non-profit that advises
Lutheran congregation efforts to improve their facilities, and provides building loans. After a review of
Good Shepherd’s draft plan and current finances, the advisor endorsed our effort as realistic, strongly
recommended utilization of a professional fund raising firm, and offered further advice on fund raising
and financing as needed.
Opportunities
Mosaic Associates examined our building construction drawings and existing floor plan at the outset of
their work and identified a several circumstances which could provide opportunities for economical,
achievable improvements:
1. Our current floor plan includes a much higher than average percentage of circulation space, as
opposed to productive space; therefore, we can gain some usable floor space for classrooms and/or
storage within our current square footage.
2. Most of our interior walls are not load-bearing, and therefore can be re-arranged without
necessitating major reconstruction.
3. The contractor that did much of our original construction, and some of its management staff, is still
in business and interested in our project.
4. ELCA advises that once every 25 years is the optimal period between building drives for a
congregation, and that is about the length of time it has been since Good Shepherd’s last expansion.
Infrastructure Improvements
Before presenting details of the draft plan, it should be noted that upgrades to the efficiency, safety, and
code compliance of our infrastructure (e.g., electrical, lighting, heating, plumbing, hot water, fire safety)
will be incorporated in all phases of the plan. This has actually begun: during the course of our
discussions a grant program enabling a very cost-efficient replacement of all existing lighting with new,
energy efficient lights was identified. With the concurrence of the Church Council, we secured the
funding and completed the work. Also, some of our members have made improvements to our sound
system.
However, Mosaic and a mechanical engineering contractor who Mosaic brought in to inspect our
facilities have identified significant costly needs. While such work will be done in conjunction with
different phases of the plan, the details are outlined separately in the plan below.
Other work, which many have noted as desirable, such as new floor coverings and new seats, are not
addressed by the plan, as this is ongoing maintenance. But such things will be kept in mind for potential
inclusion in capital facilities work.
The Plan
During the course of our work, with the help of Mosaic we examined a range of alternatives, from
working only within our current building footprint to constructing a separate large, new classroom
building. The short term plan presented here remains within our current footprint, with the exception of
a kitchen addition on the south side of the fellowship hall. As a first step, this kitchen addition enables a
number of follow-on projects that further the church’s objectives. For the longer term, we have
identified a possibility for enlarging the sanctuary.
Kitchen Addition A kitchen addition would be built adjoining the corner of the fellowship nearest
the existing kitchen. It would have a doorway adjoining the fellowship hall, as well as a half-wall
pass through window for use during dinners in the fellowship hall, and an exterior door. It would
extend about 20 feet toward the side parking area, but not result in any reduction in parking capacity.
It would be equipped with larger capacity, energy efficient appliances, including an unlimited
capacity on-demand water heater.
Rest Rooms Relocation of our kitchen into a new addition would enable the construction of new
rest rooms where the current kitchen is located. They will have improved heating and meet all
building codes, including handicapped accessibility.
Revised Floor Plan Once the new rest rooms are available, the space of the existing rest rooms,
including the small wash room adjacent to the sacristy, will be used as part of a revised floor plan
that increases classroom and meeting space for our ongoing ministries, as well as storage space.
Using this former rest room space, combined with significant rearrangement of the current floor
plan, allows us to use considerably more of our existing building for office, classroom, meeting, and
storage space. Drawings of the revised floor plan will be made available for review. This type of
floor plan revision is possible because our internal walls are non-load-bearing and can be rearranged. The current sanctuary and fellowship hall space would remain as is.
Infrastructure While considerable refinement of the details must take place, Mosaic and the
mechanical engineering contractor have made a number of recommendations, including rooftop
HVAC units for the sanctuary and fellowship hall, refrigerant flow HVAC system for the rest of the
building, electronic building environment management control system, new lighting, and new
electrical panel boards. As mentioned above, we have already installed new lighting and done so at a
cost well below the consultant’s estimate.
Costs
Kitchen
Addition (425 sq. ft.)
Appliances, furnishings
$117,000
40,000
$157,000
Rest Rooms (260 sq. ft.)
$31,000
Revised Floor Plan (1079 sq. ft.)
Infrastructure
Rooftop HVAC
Refrigerant Flow Heat
Building Controls
Electric Panels
$108,000
$50,000
50,000
30,000
30,000
$160,000
Total:
$456,000
These figures are preliminary and depend on further refinement of the details of the work. In every
instance we will seek to economize, for example by using volunteer labor from among our members or
by finding grant programs such as was recently done in replacing all our lighting. However, these cost
approximations give us some idea of the scale of resources which will be required.
The potential improvements listed as “Infrastructure” are based on a one day review by a mechanical
engineering firm engaged by Mosaic. As the plan is to keep our present buildings in use, these items can
be pursued independently of the proposed kitchen addition, rest room relocation, and revised floor plan.
They need much review: they may not all be short term necessities; they may be somewhat “goldplated”; and, they may lend themselves to pursuit of separate funding through existing grant programs.
These items will be reviewed further concurrently and in close coordination with the other
improvements
Future Improvements
Mosaic Associates identified a number of ideas for changing the look of our sanctuary, both inside and
out, as well as expanding its capacity. However, as sanctuary aesthetics have been identified as a lower
level priority, this work has not been included in the near term plan outlined above. And, while our
membership and attendance have shown some modest growth in recent years, our current sanctuary
capacity allows for some further growth without any expansion (with the exception of Easter and
Christmas).
Mosaic also prepared a plan that includes a new building that could house more classroom space or a
new fellowship hall. As with the sanctuary improvements, the Committee recommends deferring this
work until after the short term improvements have been completed and we have a better assessment of
needs and resources.
Next Steps
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present plan to general congregation and fine-tune it based on membership’s feedback
refine project cost estimates
plan fund raising efforts with professional assistance
develop a phasing plan for funding and construction
Thursday, May 16, 2013