Construction of the First United Methodist Church in Lower Queen Anne remains on track for a winter 2010 opening, as exterior finishes and aesthetics take shape in the next six weeks, at which point construction will mostly move to the buildings' interiors.
Two lots were purchased on Denny Way between Warren and Second Avenue North. The western lot will be a four-story parking garage, but the first floor will house an Urban Outreach Center.
"The plan is to have transitional housing there and provide housing for up to 31 homeless men," Pastor Sanford Brown said. "We're excited for that space and the program."
For Brown, who was formerly the executive director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, the program was a natural extension of his involvement with social justice.
"I'm looking forward to continuing the congregation's long-standing work in social justice, so our anti-homelessness program is just a part of that - giving a voice to people who don't have a voice," Brown said.
The Church partnered with the City and King County in putting up $1 million toward the program. The program is intended to transition homeless men, who can stay up to 18 months, into permanent housing.
"We're targeting people who would be residents of tent city," Brown said, "and we're going to open up to community the opportunity to partner with us in terms of providing volunteer services so we can move people out of homelessness into permanent housing."
The east building will house the offices on the first floor, the main worship space on the second floor and an education space on the top level.
The church's physical construction cost $18 million, and the entire project costs (permits, property, architecture) totaled about $35 million. The congregation raised $1.6 million in a capital fund drive for the project.
So far, the only construction hiccup was the discovery of an "enormous electrical conduit underneath the alley" that separated the two buildings. "So we weren't able to do a tunnel," Brown said.
Apart from the end to a connecting tunnel, the busy buzz at the Seattle Center has created one some logistical concerns for churchgoers trying to make it to the Sunday service -held at Seattle Children's Theatre during construction. But Brown said the proximity to venues such as the Seattle Center, the Pacific Science Center and the skatepark carry opportunities for the church. "There's going to be great new ways for us to reach out," Brown said.
And in the mile-and-a-half radius surrounding the church there's about 50,000 permanent residents, of which the largest demographic are people in their 20s and 30s.
"Since our goal in moving to the area was to find a new and young population, we want to organize ourselves so we can reach out to that community," Brown said.
A new worship service with contemporary music is in the works, too. Currently, there are about 500 people in the congregation, with some 200 regularly attending Sunday services.
Brown expects to obtain the occupancy permit by Jan. 21, 2010; shortly after, services in the new church would begin.
Until then, Brown said, "We apologize for any inconvenience the construction's caused. We know it's tough to have hammering and saws all day long, but we look forward to being a servant to the community and finding ways we can create a really positive sense of community in this neighborhood."[[In-content Ad]]
