Progress? That's an understatement!

As many of you already know, in order to keep moving forward on construction, our office staff vacated the South wing this week. The contractors have made quick work of the demolition and we have the picture to prove it! Take a look...

First...welcome to the new entry...or at least the opening for it:

Some of you may recognize this area...it used to be the band rehearsal area and bathrooms...















And welcome to the new lobby area - perfect for gathering and connecting...well, once there's an actual floor, that is....

Seeing these really keeps us reminded that as we remain on igniting H.O.P.E., God remains faithful in His great and amazing plans for Seneca Creek and the lives we have an opportunity to touch. We will keep the pictures coming, so be sure to stay tuned as we get closer and closer to occupying our new home!

Movin' on ...out?

Almost nothing about the renovation of 13 Firstfield and our journey to occupy it has been conventional. Of course, many folks would say that Seneca Creek Community Church has always defied conventional stuffy, cold and impersonal church experiences…and that is not a bad thing.

In order to keep the construction schedule on target for a December move-in, our staff is movin’ on out! Starting Monday, November 8, we will be fully operational with phones, email, database and printing from remote locations. All of the regularly scheduled meetings that are held at 13 Firstfield (including CORE and ReFuel) will also be temporarily relocated for 2-3 weeks, until we have occupancy of the North wing. If that affects you, be sure to check with your group leader for the new location.

So, if you see a staff person at your local Panera, Starbucks, McDonalds or any other fabulous free wi-fi hot spot, know that things at Seneca Creek Community Church are humming along! See you in the neighborhood…

We have the Sprinkler Permit!

You may have heard that our move into the North building was delayed because our contractor was waiting for the sprinkler permit so that he could begin the final item in the North building, the installation of fire sprinkler systems. On Wednesday, Oct 13, we finally received the permit so that work in this area can continue! The contractor expects to be finished in the North building by the end of the month so we are planning to move our offices over then.

You may be wondering, why the move now? Well, we must move the offices from our current location to the newly renovated spaces so that Kascon can do renovations in the South building. Work to be completed there includes, installing a lobby floor to connect the two buildings, new and larger restrooms, and a kitchenette/coffee bar. The picture above shows the open space that will soon be our brand new lobby connecting the two buildings together. This will be the place to grab a cup of coffee, stop by connection point for group or event information, or just hang out and talk with friends. We are coming down the home stretch. Kascon is still hopeful that they can be finished by the end of November! Stay tuned. More info coming on how you can help us finish strong!

Painting Progress

We began painting the North Building this week! So many of you have joined in and we've made great progress. It really is amazing how a coat of paint can transform a room.

Yesterday the Seneca Creek "swoosh" went up on the wall in what will be the future reception room. Many thanks to John O'Keefe who created and mounted it!

Another big accomplishment this week was the removal of the center column in our future auditorium. A new cross beam was set in place on the exterior to ensure the structural integrity of the roof after the removal of the center column. The column came down and the roof stayed in tact!

Lots to do in a Short Period of Time!

Most of the walls are in place and the space that used to house rows of offices is now a large auditorium. Even with concrete floors and unpainted drywall the space already feels warm and inviting. Kascon (our contractor) is moving right on schedule and they intend to be finished before the end of the year. That means it is still entirely possible that we could be worshipping in this space by Christmas! In order to make that happen, though, there are some things that we as a church have to do.

1) We'll need to receive at least $160,000 of the outstanding pledges by November 30.

If you were with us June 6^th when we launched construction, you may remember us saying that we had enough in our building fund to pay for this first phase of construction but we still needed funds to cover soft cost and finishes that are not included in our contract with Kascon. So, over the next four months, we will need at least $160,000 to pay for things like permit and inspection fees, builders-risk insurance, paint, carpet, tile, and a few critical pieces of IT and sound equipment. All of these items are necessary in order for us begin using the building for Sunday Services. (Note: To date we have approximately $700,000 in outstanding pledges. After paying for soft costs and finishes the remainder of the funds will be put towards finishing the children's area.)

2) We need to paint the entire North Building between Aug 18-26^th.

One of the ways we are holding down construction costs is by doing our own painting. We'll be painting between August 18th and August 26th. You can sign up to help online, or on Sunday morning. It's a big building but if we all work together we can get it done.

3) We need to move all of our offices to the North Building on Monday, Sept. 6^th.

Kascon will be finished with all the work in the North building by the first week in September. At that time, we will shift all of our offices over to the North building. From this date on we will be able to occupy everything in the North building except the Sancutary and the lower level elementary PowerHouse. Once our offices have been moved to the North side, Kascon will then begin construction on the South building to include a new double-wide stairway, adding a lobby floor, new restrooms, and a new second floor entrance.

There's lots to do in a short period of time so please get involved over the next several months! If we work together--everyone contributing something—then with God's help we will be in our building before year-end!

Picking Out Colors

Tricia Corman has graciously donated her interior design services absolutely free of charge! She has a incredible eye for style and color and is doing a fabulous job advising us in this area. This week we had to decide on paint colors because the walls will be ready to paint mid-august. We also picked out cabinet and countertop colors for the coffee bar in the lobby and the kitchenette in the green room.

It's Taking Shape

The framing and drywall is almost completely done throughout the north building. It's amazing how quickly work is progressing. The auditorium is really starting to take shape, making it easier to visualize us meeting here in the near future.

On Your Mark. Get Set. Go!

On Sunday, June 6th, we tagged the floors in our future auditorium with Scriptures, prayers, and praise and then prayed over the space that will soon be our place of worship. A big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us get to this significant milestone! And praise the Lord who is our provider, sustainer, and binds us all together. Construction officially began on Monday, June 7th! Check back here often because we will post progress pictures along the way. HERE WE GO!

We Have Our Building Permit in Hand!

Our building permit was approved this week and we picked it up on Thursday, May 27th. The building team met with Kascon (our general contractor) this week to iron out the final details for launch of construction. Join us on Sunday, June 6 to celebrate the launch of construction that will officially begin on June 7th!

We're Moving Right Along!

A lot has happened since our contract signing in March and our building project is moving right along! On April 11^th we hosted our 2^nd Clean Sweep to clear out the North building for construction. We had planned to work all day, 9AM to 4PM, but so many of you showed up to help that we were completely finished by noon! It was another one of those priceless moments where we saw our church community come together and accomplish more than we had thought possible. It hardly seemed like work because we had so much fun doing it together….and when our work was finished we enjoyed some pizza!

The design/build team completed the last of the mechanical and electrical drawings in April. We submitted our plans along with the application for building permit to the City on April 30th. We expect to get our building permit approval this month so that means the dust will soon be flying. Keep praying and we'll keep you posted!

We Have A Contract!

On Sunday, March 21, we signed a contract with Kascon Construction to begin Phase 1 of the renovations at 13 Firstfield! We will apply for our building permit in two weeks and then construction will launch in May. The estimated time for completion is six months which means we very well may be meeting for worship services at 13 Firstfield before the end of 2010! The renovations have been segmented into three phases listed below.

Phase 1

This first contract includes a 350 Seat Auditorium, a Second Floor Entry and Lobby, new restrooms off the Lobby, all the life-safety and code requirements through out the entire building, outside parking, landscaping and lighting work required by the site plan approval. At this time, the contract does not include paint, flooring, or a raised stage in the auditorium. Those are items that we will add near the end of this phase as funds become available and we may choose to do some of those items ourselves.

When this phase of the project is done we will move our Sunday Services from the High School to 13 Firstfield. We will have a place in the building for everyone to meet children, students and adults.

Phase 2

As additional funds become available, we will complete the lower level children's ministry space. We know there are some parts of the lower level construction that we may want to do ourselves to reduce our costs. It's important that we move to working on this phase as soon as possible because it will open up more space and allow us to create environment that are tailored to the needs of children.

Phase 3

We will remodel the upper level south building and created two large meeting spaces for middle and high school students.

Here's How You Can Help! Come out to Firstfield on April 10 for Clean Sweep 2 and help us clear the building for renovations! Let us know if you have flooring expertise and can volunteer services to lay carpet or tile. Join with other in contributing financially to Chapter Two so we can complete the lower level children's rooms. Pray for wisdom and provision to com

Another Encouraging Meeting

We had another encouraging meeting with the design build team this week. We reviewed the drawings reflecting proposed changes for accomplishing our phase 1 goals within our current budget constraints. One concession we have made is to eliminate raising of the roof in the auditorium. But we are pleased that we have gained a slightly larger auditorium and a larger stage which will greatly increase the functionality of the space. The team has identified alternative ways of constructing the stairs that will not only decrease our costs but will also lessen disruption for our first floor tenant. Overall we are very happy with the proposed design changes because we believe they will fit within our budget and still give us the functionality we need! The team is aiming to finalize all the modified drawings (floor plans, structural, and mechanical) by the end of the month. If all goes well we will sign a contract very shortly. Check out Kascon our general contractor and Waldon Studios our architect.

Sometimes no news really is good news!

It's been a while since we've communicated about Chapter Two, but that's not because there's nothing happening. Our building team has been working diligently for the past five months, consulting with professionals to identify our options and devise a plan for moving forward even with our current budget limitations in this time of recession. The process has been time consuming, as we have checked multiple avenues and worked with professionals and the City of Gaithersburg to anticipate as many issues as possible, but I am happy to report that we have made progress. We now have a new contractor, a new architect, and several engineers who are eagerly working on a plan to accomplish our goal of completing enough of the renovations to allow us to move out of the High School and into our own building. Our negotiations with them have been very positive and we anticipate being ready to sign a contract next month. We have definitely seen God order our steps and open new doors, and for that we are so grateful.

We are eager to see 13 Firstfield become a missional facility where the gospel of Jesus is preached so thousands of people can find HOPE in Christ. And as God transforms lives we will have a place available, 7 days a week, to disciple, equip, and send them out to make a difference in the world. Please keep praying. And stay tuned…