Discerning 6522

12/14/2022

Recently, I, and many of your vestry leaders had a realization. The nine-space parking lot behind Heigham House is insufficient. We need more parking spaces. Enlarging our parking may be a key to sustained congregational growth and rental income. This realization was followed by a second: Heigham House will cost a lot to renovate. And we can’t help offset those costs with volunteer labor. We don’t have the people capable of doing it.

Since beginning as your Rector, I’ve been committed to Heigham House as a necessary part of our campus. We housed someone there for three years. Before that, the house was used by the previous Rector and other staff. There is still tremendous potential for repurposing Heigham House, but only after these expensive renovations (Costing between $100,000 and $125,000). That’s a massive investment for a building we don’t have a vision for.

A parking lot will meet the needs of our whole community:

Those with mobility issues
Those who are reluctant to park along the street in the evening
Families with small children
Event rentals who want parking - including our AA tenants.

In addition, a parking lot will reduce our costs, show the neighborhood how many people are attending here, and be hospitable to our visitors.

Thinking about demolishing Heigham House makes me sad. People need housing, and here is a grand old house. And it has a new roof and fresh exterior tuckpointing! I feel sick about the money we spent. At the time, we didn’t see a significant need for parking.

Now, we are faced with a decision. If we remove the building, we can provide around a dozen more parking spots - at least doubling our current capacity. We would also save at least $7000 annually in building repairs and utility costs. That savings will help us decrease our deficit spending.

Your Vestry is gathering information to make informed comparisons. But before we get into the nitty gritty of that decision, we want to hear from you. How do you feel about this decision? What reasons do you see to keep the house or remove it?
Please take a moment to complete this short survey and give us your opinion. Your input matters! SURVEY LINK

-- Pastor Rebecca

3 Comments

Daniel Zipperer

1/5/2023 12:10:57

It seems strange to me that the cost of tearing down Highham house and constructing a lot are not even mentioned in Rev. Ragland’s essay.
These are significant!

The city commonly pays $ 20,000 per house to demolish it, which includes caping the utilities and filling the void left by the basement with dirt.
The construction of the parking lot would be an additional cost of more than $10,000 to $20,000 including the lighting that will need to be replaced.
Beyond this, value of the building if sold must be considered. Paying to dispose of a current asset of the church sounds like going backward.
Further, it deprives future rectors the opportunity to use the building constructively.
I am not convinced of the necessity to have more parking convenience at the church. If more parking is required, there are other options, such as paving over part of the grounds or perhaps more practically, carpooling or buying a church vehicle which could be used for that purpose.
One should think of the future. The Highham house is a substantial structure which would on its own last without further investment for many years. There is no rush to making a decision on this property.
Seriously, if the money to rehab this structure is currently beyond the church’s ability, I doubt that a few parking places for activities in the evenings will turn things around.
Do not waste money razing this structure if you are depriving homes for those who might come later, perhaps a different rector, and don’t deprive the church of a real estate sale if it can be sold.
Thank you for considering this point of view.

Maryellen bellmaryellen

1/5/2023 14:33:38

I thoroughly agree with the person above.

Angela Breeher

1/12/2023 13:09:17

Thanks, Daniel, for the input and points you raise for consideration.

I think your advice to not rush the decision-making process is important and good. Once the house is torn down, it will be gone forever, with NO potential for future rectors or ministries.

My heart tells me tearing down a house with "good bones" is not a good use of resources; but my head needs more quantitative and qualitative data to consider before making a decision based on facts and not just emotions.

I'd like to explore the possibility of getting permission to use other parking nearby (Sisters of Carondelet or the Health Care Center up the street.)

Discerning 6522

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