Access and Parking During Construction
Where to park and how to enter the building during construction.
The construction project to remodel the Community Life Center (CLC) is underway! With that, changes to parking and access to the church building will begin on Thursday, October 9. The impacts will be inconvenient and often not ideal, but the payoff will be great when we can open the newly remodeled building. We appreciate your grace, flexibility, and patience as we navigate this year of construction. In the meantime, the Community Life Center is an active construction site. Do not enter the CLC building or any area fenced off by our partners at Elder Construction.
Major Impacts
The main entrance near the offices will be closed for at least 2-3 months.
During this time, the traffic lane near the doors will also be closed—no drop-offs, pick-ups, or through traffic (vehicle or pedestrian) between the north and south lots.
Space inside the building will be very limited this program year, and many Sunday activities will be relocated. Watch the eNews, website, and bulletin for weekly updates.
We know things may continue to shift, and we are grateful for your flexibility. This year’s short-term inconveniences will pave the way for a lasting, positive impact on FPC and the Fort Collins community through the new Community Life Center!
Building Access on Sunday Mornings
There will be two entrances: The narthex doors (handicap accessible) open at 8:00 a.m. and will stay open throughout the morning. The north door (near the kitchen/dumpster) opens at 8:30 a.m. and locks when worship begins. Please note: access to this door requires navigating a narrow sidewalk and steps.
After worship begins (10:00 a.m.), please use only the narthex doors to enter. The north door may still be used to exit to the north lot, but re-entry won’t be possible.
Building Access During the Week
Use the north door near the kitchen, which leads directly to the lobby and offices. No other doors will be open.
The church office is open Monday–Thursday, 9:00 a.m.– 3:00 p.m., and the door will also be open for scheduled
events or meetings.Need a step-free entrance? Call the church office at (970)482-6107 to coordinate.
For the easiest access during the week, park in the north lot.
Parking Lot
People with mobility challenges are encouraged to park in the south lot, since the narthex doors are the only entrance without steps.
The handicapped spaces in the south lot will remain available, and additional spaces will be designated for the mobility-challenged.
You are welcome to drop off passengers at the sidewalk near the playground.
To free up space, we ask some church members to pledge to park off-site and take the short walk to the church. If you are willing, let us know, and we can provide you with more information.
With construction equipment and dumpsters in place, traffic lanes will be tight. Thank you for your patience and extra caution.
As always, contact Dave Campbell or Walt Schuchmann if you have questions.
Building Project update — June 2025
Capital Campaign update for June 2025
At a meeting after church on June 8, capital campaign leaders shared information with the congregation about the status of our building project.
watch the recording of the meeting here.
The financial update is that we now have $5.56 million in pledges and donations. At the same time, the estimated total cost of the project is now $5.75 million. That represents a 7% increase from the estimate last fall due to rising construction costs and reassessments by subcontractors after viewing the detailed renovation designs created over the past few months.
Capital campaign and building project leaders, including members of the Session, have had a series of meetings to strategize about the best way to proceed given a shortfall of just under $200,000. We have unanimously agreed that we need to complete all elements of the current project scope by raising the additional needed income or pledges. Failure to do so would leave undone essential elements of the project, which would cause major disruptions if completed later. We currently have 97% of the estimated project cost covered by pledges and donations, and feel confident we can raise the additional 3%.
The project we have designed will enable us to achieve almost all of our top priorities for the renovation:
Elevator and its facade
HVAC system (using heat pumps)
Fire suppression system
Two new, ADA accessible, single-user bathrooms
Electrical upgrades
Removal of the boiler and room radiators
New flooring and finishes throughout the building
To stay within our available income and city requirements, we had to leave a number of things out of the project, all of which remain in our long-term plans. These include:
Installation of new windows in the Community Life Center
Renovation of the narthex bathrooms and six existing bathrooms in the Community Life Center
Removal of the ramp and creation of a grand hall alongside Shep
Installation of solar panels
If you are new and have not yet had a chance to participate in our campaign, we welcome your participation. And if you are among the 200 households that have already pledged or given to the campaign and would like to help us eliminate the shortfall with an additional contribution, we welcome that. If you wish to be a part of ‘closing the gap,’ all you need to do is email our Operations Manager, Margaret Van Vliet, with your new or additional pledge or send a check indicating it is for the capital campaign and whether it is a new or additional pledge/donation.
What we are able to do reflects the goodness of God and your generosity. We will have a great building to serve for decades to come. Construction work is expected to begin in July.
If you have questions, contact Dave Campbell or Walt Schuchmann.
Building Project update — May 2025
Milestones met in May
ACHIEVING MILESTONES
The past month saw us reach four major milestones:
Session named the renovated building the Community Life Center.
The Community Life Center is now empty, ready for construction.
The “Minor Amendment” allowing elevator construction is nearing city approval.
Construction documents are being prepared for our city building permit submission.
We currently expect demolition and asbestos abatement work to begin by mid-July and be completed by mid-September. Pending city approval of our building permit, construction of the new elevator will likely begin in September.
CHAPEL UPDATE
The chapel planning team has developed detailed plans and cost estimates for the renovation of our existing choir and robing rooms.
The first new item for this space, a baby grand piano, has already arrived.
Work on the new chapel will begin this summer.
Building Project Update — April 2025
A very busy month!
It has been a very busy month!
Design and Planning Process:
Our “Minor Amendment” has passed city review, pending our completion of a few more required forms. This approval is the first of three that will allow the project to move forward, the other two being a demolition permit and, eventually, a building permit. We expect construction to begin in late summer, with demolition and asbestos abatement work starting early June.
Using detailed design documents prepared by the architects, Elder Construction is working with subcontractors to prepare a more refined cost estimate for the project, which we expect by early May.
With new cost estimates in hand, we will fine-tune the project scope to match our budget.
A team including Sara Hunt, Chris Perica, Carrie Holmes, and Mindi Castenada (from Matthews House) has worked with our architects to select attractive finishes and paint colors for the renovated building.
Move-out efforts:
A dumpster arrived on April 21 to facilitate our move-out.
We actively have been seeking new homes or donation sites for items we no longer need, including office desks, couches, children’s furniture, toys, a baby grand piano, and miscellaneous furniture. Congregation members interested in these items should contact Walt Schuchmann or Dave Campbell.
We have reconfigured the Gathering Place and Cry Room to facilitate their uses during construction.
The library team has completed culling their book collection and will soon open a pop-up library in the Gathering Place.
Matthews House has nearly completed moving staff and supplies from the church to a new temporary location.
Miriam is taking the lead on planning the April 27 giveaway event after church and the May 4 move-out event.
Carlie continues working on cleaning out and sorting inherited children and youth materials.
The Chapel Team has been in contact with contractors/vendors to obtain quotes related to eight parts of the project. The next significant steps are preparing a preliminary project budget and clearing out the Choir and Robing Rooms in mid-May 2025.
The Music Ministry has made interim arrangements to continue, during the season of construction, the excellent Bell Choir music that we all just enjoyed so much on Easter.
Affiliated Moving Systems will be here on May 9 to move large items we are keeping to Fort Collins Mobile Storage, where they will be stored during construction.
If you have questions, contact Dave Campbell or Walt Schuchmann.
Building Project Update — March 2025
The great move-out has begun!
The Great move-out has begun
Thanks to all the volunteers who moved everything out of the bell choir room and to Jill Hunt for offering her basement as a storage space. And, thanks to TC Tobin-Campbell for loading his pickup to take unneeded couches and chairs to ARC.
Margaret Van Vliet has arranged to have boxes of accounting records dating back decades shredded to make more room for more on-site storage.
Gary Pfister is in the process of relocating the Building and Grounds room from the education building to a space in the basement near where the back stairs go down to the youth lounge.
Church staff have developed an overall plan for allocating available space during construction to facilitate regular meetings as well as our children’s, youth, and adult programs. To begin facilitating this plan, the cry room at the back of the sanctuary, the Gathering Place, and the youth lounge will soon begin to undergo makeovers.
— The cry room will be a space where babies aged 0-2 can spend time with caregivers if needed during worship.
— The Gathering Place will feature tables and chairs, allowing it to function as a main meeting room during construction.
— The youth lounge will be replenished with the furniture and toys necessary for caring for young children.
— The sanctuary will serve as the primary location for adult education classes, with the renovated choir room/chapel becoming a second option once that work is completed.
Very soon after Easter, a dumpster will arrive to facilitate the disposal of unneeded items.
We have secured a moving and storage company to store tables, chairs, and other furniture off-site during construction.
On April 27, we plan to have a time after church to make available no longer needed furniture, books, arts and craft supplies, and toys.
On May 4, we will have a clean-out event after church to move or otherwise dispose of items that have been tagged as to whether they are to be kept and stored, given away, or trashed.
Be patient as changes begin to disrupt some of our operations!
If you have questions, ask Dave Campbell or Walt Schuchmann.
Building Project Update — February 2025
February progress
Progress has continued on the building project during February:
We have informed all building users of the June 1 move-out-by date.
Sara Hunt and Chris Perica completed an inventory of building furniture/items, which includes 367 chairs and 60 tables.
Carolynn Bond and her team have begun culling some books from our library collection.
Carlie Hoskins and Lydia Hunt are disposing of the no longer needed children and youth materials.
Bruce and Jean Lemmon put together the timeline display on the ramp near Shepardson Hall.
Mick McDill has researched line of credit/construction loan options.
We invited the congregation to suggest names for the renovated building.
The chapel planning team led by David Mills has moved quickly to settle on a room configuration and identify many anticipated features.
Having met with the Light and Power, Wastewater, and Floodplain departments, the VFLA architects will submit our minor amendment application to the City on February 26.
Pledges and unpledged donations now total $5.3 million, with $3.1 million already given and earning interest.
If you have questions, ask Dave Campbell or Walt Schuchmann.
Building Project Update — january 2025
An update from the building project organizers.
An update from the Building Project Organizers
We have set a “move-out-by” date of June 1. That means everything that is not bolted down needs to be out of the education building by that time.
We have alerted David Dunbar (bells), Carolyn Bond (library), Matthews House staff, and the Scouts to develop move out plans.
For the next 6-7 months we will work with VFLA (architect) and Elder (contractor) on detailed design work, city approvals, and refining cost estimates.
We expect asbestos abatement work in the education building to begin in June. Abatement is expected to last 6 weeks (two weeks per floor).
The current timeline shows full-scale construction activities beginning in late July or August.
During January, a site survey and soil sample analysis have been completed to facilitate VFLA’s design work.
If you have questions, ask Dave Campbell or Walt Schuchmann.