Church launches $1.8-million expansion
By Ben Saylor
Rocky River
Published June 25, 2008

The Rocky River United Methodist Church hopes that its forthcoming physical expansion will enable it to also expand its mission of reaching out and helping others.

The church recently had a “ground blessing” ceremony on June 7, which included a presentation from Mayor Pamela Bobst as well as an ice cream social and dedication of a time capsule that is to be sealed and buried during the final construction phase, according to a news release about the event.

The $1.8-million expansion will include “a large multi-purpose space to be used for worship, youth events, fellowship activities and other church ministries,” according to the release. In addition, a central lobby and reception area are in the works. In total, the expansion will increase the church’s size by 10 percent or approximately 8,500 square feet, according to the release.

The expansion work, which was designed by Ziska Architects and Associates and will be built by Krill Construction, is the first significant work done to the church since the 1950s, said David Martin, senior pastor of the church. Mark Bacon, a Rocky River resident and construction engineer who chaired the church’s building committee, said the expansion project drew six bids from various construction firms, and that all of them were close to what Ziska had estimated the work would cost.

  Martin said the expansion started several years ago, when the church did a yearlong facilities study to determine the church’s needs, and following this assembled a building committee to flesh out the ideas that emerged from the facilities study. The committee worked with Ziska on the plans for the church for about nine months, Bacon told West Life.

Bacon said that the group’s goal was to come up with a space that could be used for as many different purposes as possible. One facet of the expansion the committee saw a need for was a stage with audiovisual capabilities in order to address the growing trend of contemporary services at the church.

All the work that will be done to the church will be on the northern side. Currently, there is no reception-type area upon entering the church, something Martin said will be addressed with the expansion, which is being paid for via church pledges, “strictly through the congregation,” Martin said.

Martin said that the work is expected to be done “sometime after February.”

“We’ll be satisfied as long as we’re in there a little before Easter,” Martin told West Life.

In addition to giving the church a welcoming area that will “tie the whole building together,” Martin said the expansion will also allow the church to enlarge its outreach efforts.

The church currently supports a variety of endeavors, including “five hunger centers and the Cleveland Food Bank, three United Methodist Missionaries, a mission church in Estonia, an endowed scholarship for Africa University in Zimbabwe, a variety of local and city-wide mission centers including Brookside, Westside Community House, Berea Children’s Home and Interfaith Hospitality Network,” according to the release.