Elim Mission Church - Steel Progress

Its been a wet construction season, but I am glad to see real progress being made on site. Looking up to this hilltop site and seeing the church take form is wonderful. The views from the highway are great, both approaching and leaving town, as well as from nearby neighborhoods as shown below. Steel beams and joists have roughed out the sloping roof lines and the light gauge framing is quickly following. It will be moving toward enclosure as steel deck, exterior sheathing and roofing are completed in the coming weeks. Until then, the interior spaces are only hinted at. Your eyes, unable to focus on the immediate structure, quickly shoot out from inside the framed building into the expansive landscape of farm fields, winding highway and neighborhoods surrounding. From this hilltop, the views are quite amazing, but what I seem to notice most whenever I visit the site is the sky. Both the landscape and now the quickly forming church frame a vast engagement with the sky. I think the cross, when it enters this composition, will be a perfect statement.

A view up the hill from a nearby neighborhood street.

Looking across the site after foundation walls were poured.

Elim Mission Church Groundbreaking

This month I was honored to participate in the ground breaking ceremony of a new church, which is a very special project to me. I have enjoyed working with Elim Mission Church, and their amazing building committee, for over two years now. A church building process, that relies on fundraising from within their own church body, can often stretch and strain the hope for a project reaching reality, but this church has shown true perseverance and is now about to see the fruit of all their hard work and dedication. This building committee has become like family and I am excited to not only walk through this construction process with them, but to get to witness their church body taking this big step. Larson Building did a fabulous job serving the church at this ground breaking, just as they did in leading those final big steps to begin construction. I am thankful for their expertise and the chance to team up on another project together.

As part of the celebration of growth into the future, we enjoyed seeing the youngest generation of the church pick up shovels and throw some dirt. These are the ones who will pick up the mantle of leadership in the years to come and will truly get to enjoy the fruit that comes from this new location and building.

My family was on site to celebrate with the church and we took the opportunity for a little photo op of our own.

I am happy to see dirt getting pushed around out there and I will do my best to share lots of construction progress photos in the months to come. This is a design I am very excited to see come to reality.

Elim Mission Church - Conceptual Rendering

Crown Bay Retail Under Construction

Crown Bay Retail in Monticello is under construction and beginning to make it presence known. This retail building will be for 2 to 3 tenants and is well positioned to attract traffic exiting Interstate 94. Maximizing value with strong purpose on this smaller, challenging site will bring a great sense of success here.  The graceful use of brick and large windows will make this one exiting to see finished. 

Proposed Elevation