Progress Report of the Next Step Committee

Ted Vaden, Committee Chair

Maybe you've heard rumors about Chapel of the Cross building a new parish hall.

The reports, as I so often observe in my own work, are premature and exaggerated.

It is a fact that the parish's Next Step Committee has engaged a design consultant to prepare a master plan for the parish facility. But we are a long way from designing a building, constructing anything, or launching a capital campaign. And before we move closer to any of those prospects, we'll give parishioners ample opportunity for input and communication.

In fact, that's the purpose of this article - to communicate to you the committee's progress to date.

First, a little history. The Next Step Committee is the outgrowth of the parish Long-Range Planning Committee, which presented recommendations to the vestry in May 2004. In September, the vestry created the Next Step Committee to coordinate and oversee implementation of the long-range plan.

The plan made recommendations in three areas: worship, program, and facilities. In the area of worship, the Next Step Committee has looked to the rector's Liturgical Advisory Committee to consider recommendations such as adding new services, offering alternative services, and other possibilities.

In the program area, the Next Step Committee has looked at two areas: making the church a more hospitable place and reviewing parish programs to consider whether they are serving the mission of the church and whether new programs should be added or old ones dropped. Separate subcommittees are working on both of those areas. Barbara Day and Mary Schoenfeld are co-chairing the hospitality effort, while Nancy Tunnessen is leading the program review.

Most of the Next Step Committee's efforts, then, have focused on the issue of facilities. The conclusion of the Long-Range Planning Committee, after two years of study, was that space for fellowship, offices, and classrooms are inadequate for the present, much less for the future. The recommendation was either to add on to the existing non-worship space, or replace that space entirely with new facilities.

The Next Step Committee spent extensive time reviewing possible options. We made site visits to five churches in four North Carolina cities to look at fellowship halls employed successfully by other churches. We met extensively, on average twice a month, from November through May. Out of all that effort, we concluded that the best interest of the parish would be to create a master plan that would use design professionals to analyze our existing space and advise us on the best way to accommodate our needs for the future to the space opportunities, and constraints on our site.

Over the course of the spring, the Next Step Committee interviewed five design consultants at length, viewed examples of their work in person and on paper and made an assessment of the firms' comparative strengths and weaknesses.

Out of that process, we came to the unanimous conclusion that the firm of Hartman-Cox Architects, of Washington, D.C., would be the best match for the needs of the Chapel of the Cross. Hartman-Cox is a nationally respected medium-sized firm that specializes in contextual design, i.e., planning design around the existing facilities of the client, especially buildings of historical character. Among their works are the recently completed addition to the Duke Divinity School, the National Humanities Center and, in process, the Morehead Planetarium addition. Other works are St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Washington, several historic buildings at the University of Virginia, and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Hartman-Cox's proposed fee and expenses are $91,620, and the vestry has authorized up to $100,000 for the work. That is an expensive commitment, we recognize, but one that we feel is fair and appropriate to the quality of work we seek. Of the five bids that we received, it fell in the middle of the cost range. Payment will come from the parish's
undesignated gifts and memorial reserve funds.

Hartman-Cox proposes to conduct this work over a period of three to three-and-a-half months, probably concluding by the end of 2005. The work will involve multiple visits to Chapel Hill, interviews with staff and parishioners, and at least one full meeting/presentation with the parish. The final product, a master plan, will include various written reports, elevation designs, a study model, and a site plan.

The master plan will be just that - a plan for the future facility needs of the Chapel of the Cross. It will be the starting point for any physical improvements that we choose to make in the future.

Just as important is what the master plan will not be. It will not be a detailed architectural plan for a specific building. That could ultimately flow from the master plan, but the master plan is a conceptual design matching our program needs to our space, not a technical document. It also will not be a capital plan or fund-raising campaign. That would come only if the vestry chooses to embark on a building project, and that would come only after extensive consultation with the parish.

In the meantime, the Next Step Committee intends to consult broadly with you, the members of the parish, during the master planning process. Your input is key to its success, and we hope you'll join us in our excitement and enthusiasm for this exciting project, so important to the future of our parish.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me or any members of the Next Step Committee. Their names and contact information are listed below.

Paul Carew - pcarew@nc.rr.com

Martha Dill - mdill@chccs.k12.nc.us

Terry Eason - tbe105@aol.com

Barbara Schütz - jschutz@nc.rr.com

Rob Sullivan - sull017@bellsouth.net

Ted Vaden - tvaden@nando.com

Robert Wright - rwright@alumni.duke.edu

John McGee, Treasurer, ex officio - mcgee.j.r@mindspring.com

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© 2005 The Chapel of the Cross