Bluff Park United Methodist adding gym, youth space
Bluff Park United Methodist Church has embarked on a $2.1 million expansion project.
The church is building a 14,220-square-foot addition on the back of the church building that includes a new full-size gymnasium, youth worship space and three classrooms for use by youth and community groups, Senior Pastor Mike Holly said.
Clearing, ground preparation and plumbing work began in October, and a groundbreaking was held on Oct. 29. Now, cement has been poured for the foundation, and steel started going up in January.
The goal is to have the new addition completed by summer or early fall, Holly said.
The idea began about five years ago under the leadership of former Pastor Reid Crotty, Holly said. The church realized then they needed a new fellowship hall and youth space and began planning a massive $3-4 million project, he said.
The current fellowship hall can serve about 200 people at a time, but the church sometimes needs to be able to feed about 400 people for events such as the Easter egg hunt and breakfast, Holly said.
The ideal place for a new fellowship hall is where the current gymnasium is, so church leaders decided to divide the building project into two phases, he said.
First, they’re building a new full-size gymnasium, youth worship space and classroom space and then will attempt to pay off the debt on that construction over the next three years, Holly said. Then, they’ll tear down the existing gym and build a new, larger fellowship fall in its place as the second phase, he said.
The youth now meet in the church basement but are outgrowing their space, said Bart Styes, the director of youth ministries.
They currently have three youth classrooms that hold 15 to 30 students each and a worship room that starts getting tight with more than 50 students in it, Styes said. Average weekly attendance in grades 6-12 is about 60, and there are probably at least 70 youth considered active, he said. Over the course of the fall, 128 students participated in the church’s youth group activities, he said, and they want to reach out to youth outside of the church.
The church has started gaining more young families with elementary-age children, so the youth group is expected to grow as those children move up, Styes said. This past year, more than 20 students moved up from fifth to sixth grade.
The new youth worship space should hold about 140 students, and the new classrooms will be larger and better-equipped to handle modern technology, he said.
The new classroom space also will be utilized by other groups that meet at the church, such as the Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, and the church hopes to use the new full-size gymnasium as an outreach tool, Holly said. Another idea being considered is an after-school program, he said.
Davis Architects designed the new addition, and Battle-Miller Construction is serving as general contractor.
Other projects
The church recently renovated some first-floor classroom space and moved the children’s church there for additional space. Bluff Park UMC also renovated its chapel and in January started a new contemporary worship service called The Gathering at Bluff Park, at 11 a.m. The service is led by Associate Pastor John Carl Hastings and worship leader Cole Arn. Bluff Park United Methodist has about 1,500 members and average attendance of a little more than 500, Holly said.