We will be an active, good neighbor.

Denvers Landmark Preservation Commission has unanimously approved changes a nonprofit that provides housing and other services for people experiencing homelessness needs to turn a historic Cheesman Park church building into housing for the working poor.

The commission hearing on Tuesday focused on the architectural details of the St. Francis Centers proposal for the Warren Church at 1630 E. 14th St. in the Wyman Historic District.

In comments to the board, St. Francis Executive Director Tom Luehrs offered a twist on the idea of preserving the character of the main sanctuary built in 1909 and fellowship hall added in 1952. He said his housing project safeguarded the churchs legacy of serving the community. The church is next door to Warren Village, a nonprofit unconnected to St. Francis that since 1974 has provided transitional housing and help with education and job training to single-parent families that have experienced homelessness. Warren Village was founded by Warren Church members.

We see the key way to help people get out of homelessness is to help them find housing, Luehrs said. Theres such a great need for people in our community who cant afford high rents to have something thats subsidized.

In an interview afterward, a church neighbor who had argued during the hearing against changes to the structure said he also had concerns about density and about who would be living in the 48-unit, dormitory-style housing that Luehrs is planning to build in the sanctuary and hall.

I care about the safety of the neighborhood, my own and my neighbors, Chris Mast told Denverite.

Luehrs said he had heard concerns that the new neighbors might pose a threat. In an interview, Luehrs said he expected Warren residents to be people whom St. Francis has already supported, including with an employment center that has been headquartered at Warren since the structure was closed as a church by the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2014. Luehrs said part of the inspiration for the project was watching people St. Francis had helped find employment struggle to keep the jobs because they did not have stable housing.

You might be scared of people, Luehrs said. But give them a chance and I think that they will prove that they will be invested in the neighborhood as well as in their own housing and jobs.

Luehrs said he has been working for months with people who live nearby on a good neighbor agreement that soon will be completed. He said it will ensure communications are open between the St. Francis housing, which will be staffed 24/7, and the neighborhood.

We will be people that are trying to make sure the neighborhood is well looked after, Luehrs said. We will be an active, good neighbor.

Ethan Hemming, president and CEO and Warren Village, said his transitional housing nonprofit was involved in the good neighbor agreement talks. He added that Warren Village was already treating St. Francis as a neighbor he has recommended his security company to Luehrs.

Were already working together positively, Hemming said. Were support of what St. Francis is doing and is trying to do in the neighborhood.

Mast, who spoke against the St. Franciss request to the landmark commission, said he has been following the good neighbor agreement process and hoped it would be constructive.

I hope it works out. I really do, Mast said of the housing project. I very, very much respect the need for affordable housing.

The church site is zoned for the use Luehrs has proposed, and he said he will start renovating and construction in May. Luehrs said he expected the first residents to move in next February.

Residents will have private bedrooms and share kitchens, bathrooms and other common areas. The employment center, which Luehrs said has about 30 visitors a day, will move to another location.

The landmark commission considered only design issues. The main changes approved are to the fellowship hall, where half the roof will be demolished and a new roof with dormers will be added.

Landmark commission member Kathy Corbett said the design team from Shopworks, a Denver architecture firm, had avoided major changes to the sanctuary out of respect for the historic nature of the church itself.

Fellow commission member Kelly Wemple said guidelines for the dormers, which create more living space, had been scrupulously followed.

Excerpt from:
St. Francis gets go-ahead from Landmark for a project to house the poor in Cheesman Park - Denverite

Several school districts and one city in the Des Moines metro are holding special elections on Tuesday in hopes of funding anumber of new construction projects.

The North Polk, Norwalk and Indianola school districts hope to secure funding sources for new construction and renovation projects. The city of Carlisle wants to expand offices for the city hall and police department.

Catch up on what thespecial elections mean, and where and when to vote.

North Polk Community School District: The North Polk school districtwants to issue $15 million in general obligationbonds to build a new elementary school and an addition to the high school.

The construction aims to accommodate a growing number of students, the district'swebsite reads. The district's projections show that enrollment will keep increasing and could top functional capacity in the coming years.

The following polling locationswill be open from7 a.m. to 8 p.m:

Norwalk Community School District: Norwalk voters can weigh in on a proposed physical education and competition center at Norwalk High School. The district wants approvalofa $24 million general obligation bond for the project, which would add about 78,000 square feet to the school including two gymnasiums, a track,wrestling room, fitness center, meeting rooms and offices.

Norwalk's new physical education and competition center will contain a gym that will be able to seat 1,800 visitors.(Photo: FRK Architects and Engineers)

The district would also renovate the existing gym foryouth activities and community events, Superintendent Duane Magee said in December. Citing increasing enrollment, he said some students are "using hallways and vestibule entry areas for physical education class because of lack of space."

The school board's special election will be heldat St.John the Apostle Catholic Church,720 Orchard Hills Drive, from7 a.m. to 8p.m.

More: Norwalk schools seeking $24 million for new gymnasiums, athletic facilities

Indianola Community School District:Indianola voters will consider two measures Tuesday, including funding for playgrounds.

The school district wants voters to approve a new levy of 13.5 cents per$1,000 of taxable valuationto fundpublic playgrounds and other community education and recreation projects, known as thePublic Educational and Recreational Levy.

Residents can also vote on whether to renew the district's "sales tax revenue purpose statement," which if passed would allow it touse that revenue for all purposes allowed by Iowa law.The measure would not increase taxes.

The Indianola special election will be held atthe Warren County Administration Building, 301 NBuxton St.,from7a.m. to 8p.m.

City of Carlisle:Carlisle city officials have a plan to createa new home for city hall and make more space for the police department. They'reare asking voters to approve for the money to pay for the work.

Renovating the former Great Western Bank building at 100 N First St., making it the new city hall, is expected to cost $1.6 million. Remodeling the current city hall building for the expanded police department is expected to cost $2.4 million.The moves would roughly double the space available for city hall and the police department.

Exterior of proposed new Carlisle City Hall.(Photo: Submitted)

The city's special election will be held atthe Family Life Center, 405 School St., from7 a.m. to 8p.m.

More: Carlisle city officials look for voter approval for city hall plan

Michael Rolands contributed to this report.

Shelby Fleig covers Des Moines' western suburbs for the Register. Reach her at shelbyfleig@dmreg.com or 515-214-8933.

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See what's on the ballot for Tuesday's special elections in Warren and Polk counties - Des Moines Register

The first Tuvaluan Christian congregation was established in New Zealand 28 years ago. Many of the founding members of the church arent even alive now. And the first pastor of the church is also no more.

The initiative of their church construction started in 2016, and the fundraising for church began in 2018. Australian-based Tuvaluan architect, Fakalulu Ben Kofe is the architect of the church. The total cost of building the church was $3.3 million. And the capacity of the church is 220 people.

When there was the opening ceremony of the church Nuseta Alefaio-Hope couldnt hold back her tears. Hopes Grandmother was one of the first members of the Tuvaluan Church Congregation in Auckland. Her mother was alps a devout member of the church. She is also no more.

Reverend Tomasi Iopu, who is the pastor of the congregation, now said that the church was also the dream of the first pastor of the congregation. It was a bittersweet moment for all the church members. As they had this church planned many years ago, and it finally came to fruition with the help of church fundraising.

Many fundraising ideas for church were floated while building it, and members took a loan from Christian Savings, and they also sold a property nearby to the church. However, the church paid back the loan soon and is now debt-free.

The congregation started with few families, and now there are 50 families in the congregation. Pastor Tomasi was pleased with the achievement of the church. Now the congregation has a place to gather at and worship. He said he is happy not only about the new building but also about the growing belief of the church members.

See more here:
The First Tuvaluan Christian Congregation Church Completed in New Zealand - Business Deccan

Improvements on the North Lake corridor are scheduled to begin in the Town of Lexington. The project, funded by the Hospitality Tax, will be completed in phases beginning this summer. Safety and operations along the corridor are the main focuses of the project as it serves more than 40,000 vehicles daily.

The project will begin with the widening of North Lake Drive from the one-way pair split at Church Street to the existing Dreher Street.

Phase two will include the extension of Harmon Street and relocation of Dreher Street to North Lake Drive and Azalea Drive.

Improvements from the existing Dreher Street to North Lake Drive at Sunset Boulevard will be the final phase of the project.

Changes to entrances and student drop-off locations at Lexington Elementary and Lexington Middle schools will be managed by Lexington County School District One officials.

More information about the project is available at lexsc.com.

Originally posted here:
North Lake corridor in Lexington to undergo construction this summer - ColaDaily.com

1995

Construction of a roomier Jackson Middle School is two months from completion, and a whole teaching philosophy will change when students walk through the doors for the 1995-96 school year; Jackson Middle School on Route D will house sixth and seventh grades; sixth-graders currently attend West Lane, North or Burfordville elementary schools; all seventh-graders are at Jackson High School.

It's time for Scott City-area musicians to limber up their lips and fingers; the parks department is seeking musicians to form a community band; high school band director Jim Arnold and piano teacher Gloria Schumer are helping organize the new group.

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The Delta Town Board votes to offer at $100 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of vandals who have been turning valves on city fire hydrants the past two nights, posing a threat to the city's water supply; Mayor Henry McNeely said two hydrants were turned on Monday night and three Tuesday night.

A Kelso, Missouri, building contractor has been named to a statewide board of directors for the Missouri Association for Non-Public Schools, composed of 13 citizens from across the state who will represent various elements of non-public education; the appointment of Charles Drury, an associate of Drury enterprises in Cape Girardeau, was announced recently by James J. Powers, interim chairman of the organization.

A "Day of Compassion" is observed throughout Methodism; at Centenary Methodist Church, the Rev. John L. Taylor preaches on "Methodism Meeting Its Responsibility"; special music is provided by the choir, under the direction of Mrs. J.A. Waller.

The Foursquare Church congregation plans to move into its new building at the northeast corner of Bloomfield Road and Park Avenue tomorrow; special services will be held Wednesday night to commemorate the event, as well as the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the church here; Foursquare Church has been holding services at 815a Broadway.

Lightning struck the home of T.J. Clark, 316 N. Frederick St., yesterday afternoon, setting the cupola of the building on fire; the lightning ran down the house and is said to have worked havoc with the plumbing fixtures.

More than 50 representative men and women assemble in the circuit court auditorium at Jackson to discuss ways to raise the necessary funds to complete the high school auditorium and gymnasium; those in attendance voice support of the school board's plan, which involves the citizens guaranteeing a loan of $12,000 until such time as a bond issue sufficient to cover this loan can be passed, which will be in October 1921; the facility will be large enough to seat 750 and will be erected on the site of the present high school building, which formerly was the Jackson Military Academy.

-- Sharon K. Sanders

Read the rest here:
Out of the Past: Out of the past: March 4 (3/4/20) - Southeast Missourian

The State government has accorded administrative sanction of up to 5 lakh each for 76 churches and church-run-institutions across the State for grant-in-aid towards construction and repairs under a Minorities Welfare Department scheme against proposals received by the district Collectors between 2016 and early 2019.

Principal Secretary to Govt. Md. Ilyas Rizvi issued a Government Order to this effect on Monday.

As part of the scheme, 66 churches and church-run-institutions would be given 5 lakh each and 10 others would be given less than 5 lakh for carrying out construction or repairs, renovations, construction of compound walls and others by the A.P. State Christian (Minorities) Corporation, the order states. The total grand-in-aid amounts to about 3.6 crore.

The Mandal Parishad Development Officers or Municipal Commissioners concerned would have to verify and ensure that the institution doesnt violate any rules and works are completed in three months.

The churches recommended by the Collectors are from Krishna, Kurnool, Prakasam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Anantapur and Kadapa districts.

The scheme of supporting churches in carrying out repairs, maintenance, new construction and others was first introduced in 2002 and a sum of 30, 000 towards repairs and 1 lakh as a maximum permissible amount towards new constructions was announced.

Later the maximum permissible amount was enhanced to 3 lakh in 2016 and 5 lakh in 2018 by the then government.

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Grant-in-aid sanctioned for infrastructure at churches - The Hindu

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Statement from Rockland County Executive Ed Day on the Passing of Rev. Louis Sanders:

Reverend Louis Sanders was a fixture of Rockland County serving on numerous boards and organizations and making his presence felt. Rev. Sanders well deserving of the recognition he received having been presented with the Rockland County Buffalo Soldiers Award in 2014 and being inducted into the Rockland County Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2009. His leadership, as Senior Pastor of the St. Charles A.M.E. Zion Church in Sparkill, was noted for how he raised up those around him and saw the potential of each and every person. I ask that we all keep Rev. Sanders in our thoughts and prayers and work as he did, serving his community with respect and empathy.

Statement By Rockland County Legislator Toney L. Earl on the Passing of Rev. Dr. Louis Sanders:

For the second time this week, I am devastated to learn of the passing of a true stalwart of Rockland County the Rev. Louis Sanders. I knew Rev. Sanders since the 1970s, when our wives were at nursing school together.

I am humbled by his impressive resume because everything Rev. Sanders did was to help others. He not only served the people of Rockland County, but hurricane victims in Mississippi and struggling poor families in Africa.

Rev. Sanders also served our country as a U.S. Air Force chaplain. He fought against racial segregation and he fought for human and civil rights. He did so much for so many and its a deep loss for all he knew.

Legislator Earl recognized Rev. Sanders for his many contributions and achievements in 2017, when he presented the reverend with a Distinguished Service Award, the Legislatures highest honor. Rev. Sanders was inducted into the Rockland County Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2009, and his portrait is on permanent display in the Allison-Parris County Office Building in New City.

Rev. Sanders served as pastor of the St. Charles African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Sparkill for nearly four decades. He was a retired Social Studies teacher and championship basketball coach. At St. Charles, he increased the churchs membership, renovated the sanctuary and steered the construction of a $1 million fellowship hall. He was ordained in 1975 after studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

Under Rev. Sanders direction, St. Charles became a place of community, with an SAT tutoring program, a homeless youth program, a cultural awareness program for children of color, and an on-site HIV and AIDS testing and education program.

Rev. Sanders service extended to the military and as a U.S. Air Force chaplain, he helped train other military chaplains for service in Desert Storm. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2003. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Rev. Sanders worked to collect truckloads of supplies for families in hard-hit Jackson, Mississippi. Under his leadership, St. Charles also helped many of the impacted families to find housing and to pay their rent for a year.

His international mission work included building churches in the Republic of Ghana. He also helped provide scholarships to enable poor youth in Ghana to attend school. Rev. Sanders grew up during the days of segregation and fought against racial discrimination as part of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and for the remainder of his life. Rev. Louis and Connie Sanders were married for more than 50 years. They have three children and several grandchildren and had retired to Virginia.

Reverend Sanders photo is on display at the Rockland County Civil Rights Hall of Fame in the Allison-Parris Office Building, 11 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY.

ed day, Louis Sanders

See the original post:
County leaders react to the assing of Rev. Louis Sanders - Rockland County Times

LEBANON, Ohio Four generations of Renee Forresters family have worshiped at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Watching the 156-year-old structure disappear in flames Dec. 13, 2017, made her stomach turn.

It was very emotional, she said Monday night. Just thinking about it, I get emotional."

She and other worshipers have spent their Sundays since at a storefront church seating about 30 people. The Rev. Karen Schaeffer predicts theyll soon be able to return home.

It will be a new home, she added the original building wasnt salvageable, and theyll be using insurance money to begin construction. But it will be a permanent one.

And it will be built on a plot of land once owned by Forresters grandfather.

The city bought the property, and the familys been wanting to get it back so we can build a house, she said.

Instead, it will be the site of the new church. Forrester said she thinks thats even better.

Just to know that were on my grandpas property is everything, she said.

Schaeffer said her presiding elder told her to think big when the congregation began discussing the construction of a new church. The plan as of Monday night was to start with a new sanctuary and expand over time, creating spaces for classes and sports as well as worship.

Its going to be wonderful to worship in a new space, and also because were thinking of it as being a place thats open to the community, she said. Were really excited about just opening our doors and welcoming people in every single day of the week.

The two years since the fire have been painful, she added, but theyve also been an opportunity for Bethel AMEs community to grow, with members forming closer bonds with each other and community groups forming new friendships with the church.

While we loved the building and we mourn its loss, what has happened in the interim is that weve been surrounded by love, she said. Its just been a miraculous journey.

Continued here:
Over two years after fire, Bethel AME is ready to begin building a new home - WCPO Cincinnati

The city of Plano is planning to hold a bond referendum in 2021 that would fund infrastructure projects for the city's roads, parks and facilities. (Daniel Houston/Community Impact Newspaper)

Plano Budget Director Karen Rhodes-Whitley told council members Feb. 10 the city expects the new bond package to total somewhere between $300 million and $350 million.

The projects would be selected by the city in consultation with a committee of residents and ultimately submitted to voters for approval in the May 1, 2021, election, Rhodes-Whitley said.

Plano voters approved $44.7 million in bond-funded projects in 2019. The proposed bond referendum for next year would also potentially exceed the $220.6 million package approved in 2017.

Much of Planos infrastructure was built in the 1970s and 1980s, when the city grew from a sparsely populated 18,000 to a bustling 129,000. When the city proposed its 2017 bond, Plano Director of Engineering Caleb Thornhill said that the city would likely see maintenance costs continue to rise as this infrastructure network continues to age.

You factor in the age of these roads and then you factor in the increased traffic, Plano Director of Engineering Caleb Thornhill said in 2017. As the years have gone on, these roadways have seen a large increase in traffic from the growth in Plano, but also the surrounding communities.

The list of projects funded by the 2021 bond will take shape in the coming months as city staff works with the committee of residents to narrow down the list. The city is expected to present a list of recommended projects to council members in October, Rhodes-Whitley said.

See original here:
Plano weighing 2021 bond referendum that could fund more than $300M in infrastructure projects - Community Impact Newspaper

When California-based C.W. Driver Cos.began work on the new 94,000-square-foot K-8 Cadence Park School campus in Irvine in 2016, the overall construction costs came in at $475 per square foot.

But in 2019, as the firm started mapping out the construction of Heritage Fields School No. 3, another K-8 campus for the Irvine Unified School District, costs had surged to $598 a square foot.

Thats a jump of 26% in just three years, and it echoes a trend experienced around the country.

Over the last few years, the cost increase per square foot has been abnormally high, said Jonathan Keene, senior project manager at C.W. Driver, which specializes in K-12 and higher education construction. Weve seen abnormally high increases in labor costs as well as huge increases in material costs like structural steel.

School construction costs aren't just rising in high-priced locales like California. From Maryland to Washington State, school and university construction projects are seeing cost increases that are forcing school boards and university trustees to reconsider their original plans or go back to the drawing board altogether.

In an extreme example at St. Paul (Minnesota) Public Schools, cost estimates on 18 projects grew by more than 60%between 2016 and 2019, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press newspaper.

In some of the bigger districts, where they thought they could do 30 schools, theyre now saying we can only do 18, said Mary Filardo, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based 21st Century School Fund, a nonprofit that supports and advocates for improved school infrastructure nationally. Theyre definitely feeling it.

On a national basis, school construction costs now range from a low of $230 per square foot for a high school in Nashville, to a high of $558 in New York, according to construction cost consultant Cummin. Dan Pomfrett, Cummins chief forecaster, said costs in the sector are up around 15%over the last three years. While thats in line with other sectors of commercial construction, schools unique designs can lead to higher overall price tags.

Add in a gym, science building or magnet school, and it goes up from there, Pomfrett told Construction Dive. Theres a lot of sticker shock.

Higher construction costs are being amplified at the university level, too,especially as institutions compete for a shrinking number of enrolled students.

We're really seeing an arms race in higher education right now, said Ripley Bickerstaff, director of business development at Birmingham, Ala.-based Hoar Construction, which specializes in university projects.He points to two-story recreation centers with hanging, inclined running tracks and 360-degree motion-capture systems in health sciences departments.

Whatever it's going to take to recruit students and get their enrollment numbers up, thats what they want," he said.

Like other sectors in commercial construction, labor and material costs are playing an increasingly larger role in development costs. School boards appetite for technology has also contributed, as has the length of the current economic expansion. Schools longer lifespans, robust structural specifications and more specialized indoor air quality requirements all come into play as well.

For example, at Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest school district in Virginia, assistant superintendent Jeff Platenberg said that HVAC and mechanical systems at schools are more expensive because of changing perspectives of childrens unique physical needs.

Air inflow and the conditioning of air have more stringent requirements, because you're dealing with children, and children breathe at a more rapid rate than adults, said Platenberg. He also noted that stormwater management requirements, due to schools large tracts of playing fields, recreation courts and expansive roofs, also drive up costs.

Given the length of the current economic expansion, schools are now building during the upside of the cycle, whereas traditionally, educational institutions tended to build when the market was down and costs were more favorable, said Tony Schmitz, an architect at Kansas City-based Hoefer Wysocki Architecture, whose portfolio includes more than 1.9 million square feet of education facilities. But we've been in an up economy for so long now, they are building in an up cycle, which leads to an uptick in construction costs," he said.

In addition, theres the ballooning amount of technology and automation thats going into todays schools to make sure they will provide students with the tools they need well into the future.

With the increased focus on technology, science and the overall student experience, the projects we build today look much different than the ones we did a decade ago, said Tony Church, executive vice president of operations, at St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. Some of our K-12 projects are more complex and costly than the higher-ed projects weve completed recently.

Security is also driving up costs, with electronic access control becoming more common. Defensive design elements, such as wing walls for students to hide behind in case of a lockdown, also contribute,Filardosaid.

Against that backdrop, schools are dealing with the same labor issues as other sectors of commercial construction.

You literally have a workforce that will walk off the job in the middle of the day to go down the street where somebodys paying 25 cents more an hour, said Schmitz. The labor force bounces around daily.

Its also increasingly hard to get subs to bid on jobs, Bickerstaff said.

We used to have six mechanical guys looking at a job, and now you'll be lucky to get two or three, he told Construction Dive. They're booked. And for that reason, you've basically got two guys competing over this job, so youre going to see a 10%increase right there, just because there's nobody else to do it.

Thats a factor that impacting all facets of construction.Construction managers are being realistic about what it costs to fill these positions, and as a result, customers are seeing higher bid prices, said Michael Regan, project management practice leader at Middletown, N.J.-based engineering firm T&M Associates.

At any given time, there are three times as many jobs on the street as there were ten years ago, he said. We are in a bidders market."

To deal with the rising costs, contractors and their subs are turning to various strategies, including writing cost escalation clauses into contracts.

Contractors need to do a lot more today to protect themselves from rising costs, including building in cost escalators or fuel surcharges to their contracts, according toIan Shapiro, a CPA and co-leader of the real estate and construction practice in the Miami office of tax and accounting consultancy BDO.

When costs do escalate beyond expectations, value engineering becomes a contractors best friend. At the Performing Arts Complex of Woodbridge High School inIrvine, California, C.W. Driver shaved $2 million off the numbers by only using shot-blast concrete block on the exteriors, instead of throughout the building, while re-drawing window and door openings to line up with the factory measurements of whole blocks to reduce the cutting needed in the field.

But while material prices can be tied to commodity indices, labor costs are still an "X factor," the proverbial moving target that contractors need to set a bead on early. Key to that is having a binding, detailed bid schedule up front, as is holding subs to it for the scheduled duration of the project, saidSean Edwards, Chief Operating Officer of the education arm at Boston-based Suffolk Construction, which is currently working on projects at Northeastern and Boston University.

We have a plan and control process to bring trade partners on as early as the preconstruction phase, he said.That way, we can all work on the same design alongside the architects and owners to better predict constructability issues that can drive up costs before they happen.

Key to the process are detailed check-ins with the whole team every two weeks, he added.

Others hone in on the labor issue by making sure theyre the contractor of choice for their subs. Companies are getting creative to pay subcontractors a lot quicker, to help build loyalty with their subs, Shapiro said. Sometimes, for that prompt payment, they may even get a little cost reduction.

At Fairfax County Public Schools, Platenberg strives to be a client of choice, too.We pay on time to keep the blood flowing in the arteries, Platenberg says. That keeps people focused.

Read more:
Making the grade: Why school construction costs are climbing and projects are stalling - Construction Dive