Church breaks ground on ADA-access project

By Sara Waite

Journal-Advocate managing editor

Rick Weingardt, chair of First Presbyterian Church's property committee, directs longtime members, from left, Jim Williamson, Jenevieve DeSoto, Mary May, James Leh, Warren Brown, Barbara Armstrong and Harry Peterson in the groundbreaking for the church's elevator and Americans with Disabilities Act addition Sunday, Aug. 17, after the worship service. (Sara Waite / Sterling Journal-Advocate)

Members at First Presbyterian Church fill their plates from a potluck buffet after the groundbreaking celebration Sunday. (Sara Waite / Sterling Journal-Advocate)

"Build up, build up, prepare the way. Remove every obstruction from my people's way."

The passage from Isaiah 57 couldn't have been more fitting as the theme of First Presbyterian Church's "ADA/HC Restoration/Elevator Installation Project Groundbreaking Celebration" Sunday.

After their regular worship service, the congregation gathered outside the church to officially mark the beginning of a project that will provide handicapped access to all three levels of the building.

Several members of the committees involved in putting the project together spoke about the project, which will feature an addition with an elevator and "open the doors to all who wish to enter."

Members of the congregation's youngest generation participate in the groundbreaking celebration for First Presbyterian Church's ADA/HC Restoration/Elevator Installation Project Sunday. (Sara Waite / Sterling Journal-Advocate)

Rick Weingardt, chair of the property committee, thanked those who donated to the fund for the project, noting that it took just six months and 100 individual contributions to meet the goal.

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Church breaks ground on ADA-access project