If you have driven down I-35 by our St. John site recently you may have noticed the temporary fencing around both of the existing buildings on the property. This means that some of the preliminary work has finally started on the site!
The old American Inn restaurant building on I-35 and the old brown brick retirement center at St. Johns and Duvall were both built in the 1960’s. Many insulating and building materials used in that era contained asbestos, a very effective natural insulating material. Even today, buildings with asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) that are in tact and not damaged don’t pose any real health risks. The problem comes when you disturb it (as in demolition or remodeling) and make the tiny particles airborne – then it’s really not too good for your lungs to breathe a bunch of it.
So, before we can start any kind of demolition or remodeling of these buildings, the first thing that has to be done is what’s called abatement – or just removing all of the ACM’s from the buildings. The fences have to be in place in order to protect the public from any possible exposure and to secure the work site for the workers and their equipment during the process. The fences will stay up until all the work is done on each building – whether that is remodel/reconstruction (yes, we may be able to reuse some things) or just demo. More on that later…
Well, hi everyone. It’s been a while since the last post. The past several weeks have seen us progressing steadily in a lot of the less visible (and really less spectacular) work of planning and preparation for the 7300 N IH 35 building project. So there really hasn’t been a whole lot to communicate. But, over the last couple of weeks, as the impact of our economic downturn becomes more real, it has begged us to pause and evaluate our project against the current economic outlook.
First, let me be clear that the vision of being a Church for the City is still where we’re headed. This building project is still very much a vital part of our church’s pursuit of this vision, and along with it the restoration of this property in St. Johns. Further, last Fall the contributions and giving commitments from our church were strong – really strong in fact, and we praise God for making clear His direction through this. However, just as expected, purchasing, developing and building the current full master plan will still require additional funds.
So, this means that the team is seeking God on questions like, “How much of the scope should we build right now?” (patience) and “how outside the box are we willing to think” (flexibility), in order to make the non-profit center with space to worship and train a reality.
I’m glad that we are asking these questions now. The landscape has shifted somewhat from last year, and we want to consider a right response to this. Please pray for our church, the leaders God has appointed, and for the design team as we earnestly seek to be obedient in working through these important directional decisions about our building project.
Good news - just before the end of 2008 we closed on the property at the corner of St. Johns Avenue and Interstate 35. The 14-acre tract is now officially the property that one day soon The Austin Stone will use to worship together, to bless the community, and to equip Christ-followers to bring restoration to our city and make disciples of the nations. This is a huge milestone for us, and we want to stop and praise God for orchestrating it all.
For several reasons we really wanted to close before the year's end. This meant that a great many details had to be brought together at just the right time in order to make this happen. In my view, there were so many things that could have derailed this timing that there is no question that God, through the work of the people involved in the process, worked these things out in His provision. This place is unquestionably where God has pointed us to continue the work of our church. It's exciting to be reminded of this yet again...
As we have continued to develop how the building concepts would reflect and enable the non-profit partnerships that are critical to our vision, some great changes have been made in the site plan (how the buildings will be laid out on the land).
One of the main things I communicated to our design team was how the success of the non-profit center would be critical to the success of this project. Since we have learned that many non-profit clients are deterred by having to come in to a “church” facility, we strove to create a more logical separation between church facilities and non-profit facilities on the site while still maintaining good access between the two. When combined with the city's commercial design standards, this resulted in a 'main intersection' as you come in from St. John's Avenue where the 'church' buildings are to the right, and the non-profit center will be to the left.
In the new concept, we also make better use of the site's natural features. With these changes, we increase the efficiency of the site footprint and parking, work better with the natural topography of the land, save cost and better incorporate the land's natural beauty. The existing natural space around the oak grove is amazing. There is one live oak that has a 60-inch diameter! These trees are beautiful and create a great natural setting that can't be built with man-made materials.
We're excited about the direction of our current concepts, as they bring us even more closely in line with what we desire to accomplish through the use of these facilities for us and for others. A few refinements are still in the works so there may still be some additional changes, but for now check out the new layout below [learn more about the project design and the site plan].
