Building Saints Final Report

It Is Finished! After four and one half years of visioning, planning, construction and the expenditure of almost $1.7 million dollars phases one and two of our Building Saints Program are now completed. The final retainage check was mailed to our general contractor, A. R. Chession, just last month. Along the way the process involved most of our Parishioners sitting in meetings on multiple occasions and the sending of over 1700 different emails to keep the project moving toward completion.

The Building Saints Program actually began back in the middle of 2003 when a group met to formulate a vision for our Church to move forward. From that visioning work it was soon realized that steps must be taken immediately to accommodate the growth of our Church and Sunday school. The first step was to secure a modular classroom for Sunday School and meeting facilities. The modular was permitted for five years by the Southern Shores Board of Commissioners and arrived on site just ahead of the hurricane in September of 2003. Since the modular was only permitted for five years the next step was to start planning for the construction of permanent facilities to meet our needs.

In early 2004, architectural firms were interviewed by the Facilities Committee and Heimsath Architects from Austin Texas were hired to complete a master plan for our All Saints facilities. A high point of the planning process occurred in May of 2004 when over 45 of our parishioners meet all day on a Saturday at the Southern Shores town hall and talked about “who” we were and the mission we needed to fulfill as a Church. Based on that mission the group then worked on a facility design concept that would facilitate the accomplishment of the mission. The basic design for phases one and two as well as our future Sanctuary came out of that meeting. The master plan was completed in late 2004 and the Facilities Committee began interviewing fund raising companies.

In early 2005, Cargill and Associates from Atlanta, Georgia were hired to lead us through a fund raising campaign. The campaign was very successful in that $1,000,662 was pledged to be received over a three year period. As of June 15, 2008, $886,063 of that amount had been received. In July 2005 the Facilities Committee named sub-committees to study and make recommendations on various aspects of the project. These sub-committees were:

In early 2006 a Finishes, Furniture, and Fixtures sub-committee was named to decorate and furnish the new facilities. In total over 40 parishioners served on these committees.

In late 2005, the contract for detail design and construction supervision was signed with Heimsath Architects and detail design began.

During the first half of 2006, detailed design of phases one and two continued and monthly review sessions were held with the architect’s representatives for design review, modifications and corrections. In July 2006, contractors were interviewed and A. R. Chesson Construction Company was chosen as the General Contractor. Representatives from A. R. Chesson worked with the Facilities Committee on Value Engineering the project so we could be assured that we were getting the most for our money. These Value Engineering efforts reduced estimated construction costs by almost $175,000. Even though the contract with Chesson was not finalized until October 10^th actual ground breaking occurred on September 18^th, 2006. To meet our needs the choir room and kitchen were scheduled for completion by Christmas of 2006. We actually took possession of the choir room on December 15^th and the kitchen on December 24^thof 2006.

The Administration and Education facilities were scheduled for completion on June 15^th 2007 so construction continued on frantic pace during early 2007. The certificate of occupancy for the entire facility was secured on June 18^th 2007 and move in began immediately. Punch list and warranty items continued during the second half of 2007 but these have all now been completed.

Below is a summary of project cost. You will note that the final project cost was $1,745,984 versus the Architect’s estimate of $1,800,000 which did not include interest nor administration expenses related to the project.

Project Item	Budget Cost	Actual Cost	Variance- Fav-(Unfav)
Architect	$187,212	$155502	$31,710
Engineering and Permits	$37962	$5038	$32,924
Construction	$1,496,084	$1,504,357	$(8,113)
Administration		$18,769	($18,769)
Furniture & Equip	$82,000	$41,201	$40,799
Construction Interest		$41,729	($41,729)
Sales Tax Rebate (Est.)		($20,612)	$20,612
Total	$1,803,258	$1,745,984	$57,434

While construction costs were virtually on budget major negative variances occurred in construction interest and administration. Construction interest was not included in the original estimate. The administration variance resulted from the need to rent trailers for temporary office space and the removal of the Annex Trailer that had not been included in the original estimate. These negative variances were more than offset by favorable variances in Architectural and Engineering costs, lower cost of furniture and equipment, and the sales tax rebate.

These expenditures and capital campaign receipts result in an outstanding mortgage balance as of June 15, 2008 of $1,327,931. Of this total, $355,581 is the residual of the original mortgage on the Sanctuary Building.

Administration Area- work space for church staff and volunteers including a work room that doubles as a coffee hour prep area, a Rector’s study for private counseling and meetings as well as doubling as a Bride’s Room when needed, a conference room that will accommodate meetings of up to 20 people and the start of a church library facility.

Education Area-Six classrooms for our Sunday School that also meet the code for a private pre-school, a meeting room that will seat 60 people for meetings and also double as an over flow area for our church services, a teen center for our young people, a nursery, and a room for our toddlers. All education rooms have computer and internet connections, a sound system, telephones, and television connections where our services can be viewed in the class rooms. Storage area was also provided for round tables and chairs plus storage areas for the various ministry programs in the church.

The existing building was modified to add a choir room, new kitchen, refurbished bathrooms and storage facilities on the second floor. The choir room provides practice and administrative facilities for our choirs as well as recital facilities and a meeting room for groups up to 30. The new kitchen was designed to accommodate the types of dinners and receptions most often held in our church plus also allows for use by community groups. New appliances and serving facilities were incorporated in the design by our kitchen team but in a warm and friendly atmosphere that readily serves as a facility for our Sunday morning coffees.

All facilities, both interior and exterior, were designed with handicapped considerations. New handicapped parking facilities were added and all public entrances and facilities are handicapped accessible making our facilities some of the most accessible on the Outer Banks.

God has truly blessed us in our facilities and now we must use these facilities to His glory and for His mission!

Through the Amazing Grace of God and the faithfulness of our parishioners with sacrificial giving we have been able to construct a wonderful facility that will serve All Saints and the community for many years to come. This facility was designed with visioning the future of All Saints in all aspects.

If you have not made a gift to our capital campaign “Building Saints” and would like to do so, please contact Tess Judge or Paula Myatt. Our most heartfelt thanks to the many parishioners and friends of All Saints who have been so generous in giving of their time, talent and treasure to make this dream a reality! If you have given to Building Saints and would like to give an additional gift that would be wonderful as well.