Building Our Future
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Phase One Coming Soon!
The first phase of Kessler Park UMC’s future begins now! At the end of this month, you will see work on a new roof to our building. And by year end, we hope to see construction begin on three distinct playground areas to serve us now and in the future.
These two projects form the heart of important, necessary steps toward a new vision for our building once The Kessler School leaves. (We understand TKS to be on track to leave at year end).
It is very likely that we will see even more changes to our physical plant over the next few years, but church leadership wanted to write the congregation now to update you on these Phase One plans. Because you will see the work start soon!
This Phase One plan centers around securing the building physically and creating playground spaces that will allow for a dramatic expansion of our own Parents Day Out Program at KPUMC. We invite our members and friends to consider that we are currently focusing first on the “top” and the “bottom” of the building: the roof and the ground floor programming (Parents Day Out).
Here are the details.
The Roof:
The church roof has been in serious shape for some time. There are leaks in multiple top floor classrooms threatening that space. Our church organ in the sanctuary is under serious threat/risk of incredibly costly damage due to water leaks.
Compounding a roof-replacement project are multiple roof-truss systems underneath what appears as one solid roof. These date to different periods of the construction of our building. (Without getting into too many weeds, there is a “Gypsum Board” system on a portion of the roof that adds significant cost to traditional roofing)
Your Board of Trustees has been hard at work for more than a year to choose a roofer. Because of the complexity of the job, the Trustees have engaged the services of Wharry Engineering. After an extensive bidding process, “Premier Roofing” has been selected to perform the work. Their bid is approximately $230,000. Premier was chosen because of price, their ability to do the work quickly (one week), and the recommendation of Wharry Engineering.
Work is scheduled to begin the final week of September, and be accomplished in one week. (The church parsonage and Scout Hut are also scheduled to be included in this work…)
Playground:
More than two years ago, our Church Leadership voted to pursue a large expansion of our Parents Day Out Program (PDO) once TKS leaves our building. We have been eager to move on that expansion but are currently limited by both internal building space and the playground configuration.
The PDO routinely has a “waiting list” that far exceeds our ability to serve neighborhood family demand for the program. An expanded PDO will be a major contributor to mitigate the loss of The Kessler School income.
But, to meet state licensing requirements and expand our PDO, we must first significantly reconfigure our existing playgrounds.
The vision is for three playground areas on our grounds:
The Nell Lind Baby Playground (right next to the building) Ages 2 and under.
Age-appropriate equipment is needed for small children that will allow us to expand PDO to serve this age range.
The Large Fenced Playground (Between the parking lot and the Scout Hut) Ages 2-5
This playground will be reconfigured with a combination of existing and new equipment for children in this age range. Again, this is also essential work in order to meet state licensing requirements for an expanded PDO.
Neighborhood Playground in Robert's Forest (Where old climbing structure is now…) Ages 5 and up.
An open playground area, for older neighborhood children, will take the place of the very old equipment near the current fire pit location. It will consist of moving the swing set and jungle gym from the present TKS playground and will likely necessitate reconfiguring the fire pit location.
The creation of these three distinct play areas will allow us to both serve our own PDO program while also continuing to welcome neighbor-children to enjoy our campus and Roberts Forest, as they do now.
The costs for these renovations could be as much as $100,000. It is believed that fundraising could likely pay for much of this cost.
Church leadership —Church Council, Trustees, and Finance Committee— have voted to approve bids for both these major projects and to pay for the work through extending our existing line of credit with Texas Methodist Foundation (TMF). That extension has been approved by TMF. This will add approximately $2,605 to our monthly church budget.
It is assumed that, in coming years, KPUMC will undertake capital campaigns to help pay down these expenses as well as other coming building renovations that will help us “Build Our Future.”
But the initial payment for the playground equipment —so that it can be ordered and work can begin— and for the roof work will come from cash on hand, replenished by additions to our line of credit with TMF.
So, look for these visible changes to our building and grounds coming very soon. We have exciting decisions to make regarding the rest of our building (the middle and top floors).
To that end, our Campus Vision Team will begin regular meetings in late September, and continue throughout the Fall. We will update you on the purpose and vision for the Campus Vision Team in another update next week. But just know for now that those meetings are scheduled for this Fall.
The Campus Vision Team will be asking these exciting questions:
How should our building be organized/structured in order to serve KPUMC for the next 50 years?
In order to grow, what space will KPUMC need now and in the next 50 years?
Are there parts of our building that can be utilized to serve the greater community of Oak Cliff and Dallas beyond KPUMC’s internal ministry?
Along these lines, you should look for coming opportunities to offer your input and coming community and church meetings to provide your opinions and share your ideas. All ideas will be welcomed!
You will also likely be invited to take tours of our current building so you can understand both the present challenges and the future possibilities for what our building can be as a vehicle that drives and serves all of Kessler Park.
We hope every member and friend of KPUMC will deeply engage in this important longterm work for the future of our church, neighborhood and world.
While the pandemic has delayed much of this community work, it is certain that these next few years will be an exciting time for our church and our neighborhood. We hope you are all looking forward to it as we build our future.