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St. John's Episcopal
Tuesday, January 21 2020

From Lou MacMillan, Chair of the St. John's Renovation Committee:

Since my December report, we’ve forged ahead with design of the roof/structural improvements and Chancel remodel, keeping within budget and on schedule. We’ve also learned a good deal more about how much energy a solar panel array on the Sanctuary roof could produce, for how long, and what it could cost. Read on for more details.

Sanctuary Renovation

KMB finished all schematic design (SD) work for Part I and Part II in January, and is now well into design development (DD) of the Part I roof/structural work. Building on the completed SD phase, we expect DD to finalize all the design, structural, and material details by the end of January. Then KMB will begin working on construction documents (CD), the final detailed plans used for bidding and construction.

The Vestry wisely authorized only schematic design for the Part II Chancel remodel to provide a general scope of proposed improvements to address several key areas:

  • barriers to accessibility
  • cramped space for worship participants
  • poor acoustics and lighting
  • uneven floor, unfinished floor and organ cases
  • integration of new structural elements (wall in-fills, X-bracing)

Earlier this month, KMB delivered the final schematic design materials for use with the upcoming capital campaign. They contain narrative, floor plans, elevations and illustrations. These materials will be distributed in conjunction with the campaign. Bear in mind that the design solutions proposed simply illustrate the general scope of work. If the work is funded and constructed, final design of features – screen walls, altar, ambo (a combination pulpit and lectern), furnishings and finishes – will be refined significantly.

I want to thank KMB, their sub-consultants, architect Clint Pehrson, and Father R.C. for their thoughtful approach to and valuable feedback on the Chancel schematic design. The team has worked hard and well together to get us to this stage of discernment.

In other good news, FORMA Construction, our general contractor, performed a “rough order of magnitude” review of the Part I scope of work and estimated construction will cost $817,000, which is close to our August 2019 estimate.  At this stage of design, this is considered a reasonable margin. As I said, scope, budget and schedule are all aligned – a good thing!

Solar Panel Array

Capstone Solutions, a Redmond-based alternative energy provider, has provided a preliminary analysis of installing a solar panel array on the new Sanctuary roof. The good news is a system is technically feasible, will not void the new roof’s warranty, and depending on its size, could provide all, or nearly all, of our electrical energy (based on last year’s usage).

The not-so-good news is the cost estimates are $100,000 - $120,000. Obviously, this additional cost is a concern, given that the roof and structural work will total about $1 million and the Chancel remodel, if approved and funded, would cost an estimated $600,000.

One option to outright purchase of a system is to finance it instead. One or more investors (donors) could form a limited liability corporation (LLC) and acquire the system up-front to be installed on the roof. The LLC members could recoup their investment through both tax credits and power production paybacks over a period of about 10 years, then transfer ownership of the system to the church for the sum of a dollar. That would provide the parish with another 15 years of service life on a system that’s guaranteed for 25 years. This is just one financing option discussed with Capstone, there may be others.

The Vestry received this information at its January 16 meeting, and will consider next steps. If the Vestry authorizes the addition of a solar panel array, either the “stretch” goal of the capital campaign will need to be adjusted upwards to include the extra cost, or we will need to further explore the financing option with Capstone. Either way, if approved, it will be important to move ahead quickly on a solar array to fold it into the overall project scope in time for construction start this summer.

Respectfully submitted,
Lou MacMillan
Renovation Committee Chair

Posted by: Lou MacMillan AT 12:00 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email