Imagine Our Future
Learn about the capital campaign and review the
proposed Master Plan to connect our community
and rejuvenate our church home
 Imagine...
Imagine a church where you are welcomed and connected. Where you are inspired. Imagine a church facility that is comfortable, accommodating, and administratively efficient. Imagine a space that produces income for the church that allows us to be more active in our community. Imagine a space that connects us all. Such a vision is the inspiration for our Master Plan and the basis for our upcoming Capital Campaign.
Where did the Master Plan come from?
 Over two years ago, input for the "Searching for the Future" weekend, together with comments from various groups in our congregation confirmed a need to improve our Church buildings so that it could meet our present and future requirements. The congregation elected members of a Planning Committee who hired a local architect, Paul Sionas, to review what needed to be done. Paul Sionas is a well know local architect who has been involved in many local church building projects and has offices right on Church Street. The Planning Committee, together with Paul met with a variety of groups of our Church including the RE and Buildings and Grounds committee. They also consulted with the Church staff, members involved in social and fund raising events and our Church leadership. From these meetings and ongoing feedback from the congregation came the Master Plan.
Needs identified.
 The results of this consultation led us to believe that our Church would be a better place if we worked to:
- Unify our sprawling spaces, creating a greater sense of physical connection.
- Create a larger, more comfortable, and more flexible social space with a capacity to accommodate our entire congregation.
- Renovate and enhance our sanctuary to improve our religious experience while increasing our capacity to accommodate future growth.
- Develop more Religious Education space for the future.
- Modernize the operation systems of Church including our roof, electricity, heating and air conditioning to produce a building that is safe, efficient and environmentally friendly.
- Accomplish the above while preserving the history and continuity of our home on Church Street.
The Master Plan.
To fulfill these needs a Master Plan has been created. It will be carried out over several years, funded by the proceeds of our Capital Campaign. The order of improvements, as presently conceived, is as follows.
- Renovate the sanctuary.
- Create an atrium commons between the Church and the Annex that can serve as the main entrance space for the Church, connecting the sanctuary, the Annex and Fletcher Hall. It would also serve to replace the Narthex allowing us to expand the sanctuary. It also could serve as a focal point of exhibits that could articulate who we are as Unitarians and become the inevitable place of meeting and greeting each other.
- Relocate our social hall to our most beautiful, historic, sound, sunny space - our rotunda. Move our administrative offices to Fletcher Hall.
- Open our social hall and commons to an outdoor patio and playground space behind the Church.
- Renovate lower level of annex and Church RE area to provide additional classrooms for RE program.
What comes next?
Our Annual meeting: May 22nd
The congregation votes on the Capital Campaign and Master Plan.
You will be asked to:
- Approve the campaign to raise capital to carry out Church Facility Master Plan, and;
- Approve the general, not detail-specific, Master Plan the vision for improving our Church as a multi-year effort.
- The specific design of the commons link will be the subject of approval of a separate vote for approval by the congregation as we reach that stage of the Plan.
- All specific building plans for particular areas of the church will be done in close cooperation with groups affected (e.g. work in RE areas with RE Committee; systems and structural work with Facilities Committee; sound system with Music Committee; aesthetic decisions with Aesthetics Committee, etc.)
Milestones Event: June 3rd
- Honoring ministerial milestones
- Launch Capital Campaign
Questions or comments?
Contact: Nancy Felix; nancy.b.felix@dartmouth.edu, 212-714-2148 or Chris Corbett; ccorbett6@hotmail.com, 973-746-6333.
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