Donegal Presbyterian Church Building Project Update
NEW FELLOWSHIP HALL AT DONEGAL
In years to come many Donegal members will recall the Easter Sunday morning when they first were able to use their new spacious and beautiful fellowship hall. It’s two-story wall of windows framed the rising sun, the Cameron Estate Inn, and our spring flowing into the pond walled many years ago, all with a background of green grass and budding trees. It was truly an Easter morning to remember!
Easter bunny helpers had placed almost a dozen large round tables with colorful covers and flower centerpieces. And awaiting the close of the sunrise service was a buffet of a large variety of sumptuous food, and other tables with hot and cold beverages. What a drastic change from our small crowded noisy former hall, which served the purpose well for more than 45 years, but could be described very accurately as a small basement room with some windows but no view.
A facility so grand and attractive should not have to be called just a “ fellowship hall.” That designation is much too ordinary and nondescript. Even calling it a “social hall” would be some better. But our wonderful gathering place deserves a name worthy of its unusual scenic beauty, while also reflecting the uses, which will be served --- most regularly as a place of worship, but also for dining and socializing.
Many descriptive words come to mind, such as vista, beautiful spring glen and grove, or even Donegal Hall if you want it to rhyme. It also could be described as the “Meeting Place,” since one of its main uses will be the contemporary service and the fact that for more than a century our building was called Donegal Meeting House. In John Hoover’s diary of 1851, the time of the church remodeling, he always referred to it as the “meeting house” until near the end of the diary where it was first called a church.
Could there be a contest to determine the best name for our super-grand facility? Could our session initiate this project? Could thoughts be expressed in the Witness? We will be anxiously awaiting some opinions on this matter. Mary Karnes
September 30th:
The Physical Plant Task Force (Building Committee) would like to report that all final billings are in for the renovation and new addition. From a Budget of $1,865,423.00 we totaled out at $1,837,423.00. This represented contractors' billing of $1,601,113.00 and our own costs of $236,310.00. We came in under budget by $28,000.00!
Our thanks to Caldwell, Heckles and Egan for their terrific communication and detailed billings and our thanks to one another for sharing the gifts God gave us of planning, purchasing skills, color coordination, humor and good-old elbow grease!
Lisa Kuzdro, Chairperson
September 9th, 2007; Dedication Sunday:
Mark your calendars. Schedule an email reminder. Plan to attend the dedication of our new facilities, with a special service, fellowship, food, and music.
Our first service was held today in the new fellowship hall. Looks, sounds and feels great!
April 29th:
4th time's the charm! We received out certificate of occupancy on Friday. (Finally!)
Major Painting Party! With lots of volunteers, and even more expert help, we are nearing the end. The fellowship hall is ready for approval, the construction is done (with only a few patches) and our refreshing coat of paint is almost done.
It's coming together. Lights are in place, sound system and alarm system, and most of our "Communications Center".. the new mailboxes and bulletin board! Oh yes, and we are finally using our old classrooms again! We are told that the construction will be done within the month!
Well, some more details are in... fans, trim pieces, finish paint, wires and cabinets... It won't be long now!
The floor is finished (though covered so we can't see it) and the wood ceiling and trim is going up.
The new profile of our church building is worth a look.
January 27th & February 3rd, 2007:
Big Painting Party! As a community activity, obligatory for the MT'07 Crew, we started painting the top floor of the education wing. What a turnout, and what a difference! This was a great added touch for our first congregation tour on January 28th!
The project is right on schedule. Fair weather and no snow have helped. The elevator is now in, but not operational until the inspectors certify it. The building is now completely enclosed and heated. Drywall is going up and hardware hung... it's starting to look like home.
The exterior has taken shape. The steel is all up now, but the window frames are still empty. Interior walls are going in now. And, Hurrah!: we now have an operating interior bathroom.
Framing is shaping up to allow for the elevator shaft, from the ground floor to the top floor! We even get a new 3rd-floor bathroom out of the change. Two of the top-floor classrooms are smaller now, but we did save the murals!
We have walls! A pleasant surprise to see the walls poured last week. This really brings scale to the project. In the course or running the conduit and plumbing, another discovery was made... some bricks of a possible foundation that we didn't expect to see.
The foundation footers are laid out. In the panoramic photo you can see the outline now. All of the conduit and plumbing are being laid underground. The parking area is a mess with sewer drains being buried. Many of the smaller trees that were in the way were moved. Larger ones harvested for their lumber.
Oh, yes... we have temporary bathrooms... way outside, in the parking lot.
