Churches adjust building plans

2/12/2005

Several area churches with building programs have been evaluating and adjusting plans.

Cathedral of Praise, which last fall bought the sprawling former

corporate headquarters of the Aeroquip-Vickers Inc. on Strayer

Road in Monclova Township, had hoped to be in the new facility by

Easter, March 27, but is now looking at an April opening.

We are remodeling one of the six wings there, one of which will serve as our temporary sanctuary until we build a new auditorium, said the Rev. Tony Scott, pastor.

The temporary sanctuary in the 120,000-square-foot complex

which Cathedral of Praise purchased for $5 million less than its

$12 million appraised value will seat about 1,000 people.

Plans call for a new 2,500-seat auditorium connected to the front of the building, Pastor Scott said, but no date has been set for groundbreaking.

We are waiting until we sell all our property here [in West Toledo] before we build a new auditorium, he said. We could very well do it this year, but we are not in a hurry to sell our property. We re in a pretty good position.

Construction has been delayed at Mayfair-Plymouth Congregational Church on Bennett Road, which had hoped to break ground this spring on a $6 million facility.

Our fi nancial challenges are not together yet, said the Rev. David Claasen, pastor. It s too big for us to go into right now.

I m just learning to hold tight and keep doing God s work until we can see our way clear to move ahead on the project.

The church owns 23 acres a quarter-mile north of its Bennett

Road site, and eventually plans to build a 50,000-square-foot facility

with a 400-seat sanctuary.

CrossRoads Community Church in Temperance is planning to start construction next month on its $6.5 million facility in Whiteford Township, Mich., alongside U.S. Hwy. 23 near the Sterns Road exit.