[Vision2020] Christ Church cathedral

[Bill London]

According to Rose Huskey's blog Cleaning House
at http://cleaning-house.org/?p=594
the following is the minutes of a Christ Church Head of Household meeting about the purchase of the site near Gritman for their new cathedral.

Especially interesting is the discussion of the parking in the area:
"The property is located in the central business district. Parking restrictions apply only to residential property. There is plenty of parking in the area."

BL
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  The property Christ Church is purchasing is due west of Gritman where the gain [sic] silos used to be. It looks deceivingly small. Douglas put a mock up of the field house on the property map. The property is located in the central business district. Parking restrictions apply only to residential property. There is plenty of parking in the area. A year or two ago, because of the climate in town, we decided that we could not talk about what we'd like to do in a normal manner. We had two potential purchases denied because of the climate in town. The feedback from the congregation was that the elder board should pursue purchasing property for the congregation.The price at first was unreasonable. As a result of negotiating, the price came down to $950,000. We have $550,000 in the building fund. And we have Anselm House free-and-clear. Anselm is worth ~$650k. So we had enough assets to cover purchasing the property. We wanted to commit to purchase from the buyer, negotiated from a 3rd party. $I00k will be held in escrow until one remaining easement is removed (owned by the Railroad Company). These are water and mineral easements. Once a building is put there, the easement cannot be exercised. The elders wanted a toxic report on the property and a letter from DEQ confirming that.

  The closing date is 2 August. We had a dessert get together and raised $26k; and then the following week we raised just under $80k. That brings the amount we need down to $320k. Out of that $80k, over $22k was from church officers.

  If we didn't raise the entire amount, we would approach private lenders who would give us a note for $I00k each or approach a bank with Anselm as collateral. We want to build the church debt free, but we're willing to encumber Anslem [sic] House this way while we raise the money. We wouldn't start building until the land is paid off.

  Douglas answered questions.

    1.. Parking wouldn't have to be supplied for everyone who attends service. We would like to I,000-I,200. 
    2.. Banks don't like collateral on dirt. So taking a loan out on Anselm is easier than taking a loan out on the lot. 
    3.. A church cemetery would have to be out in the country. 
    4.. Construction is off in the distance. That's a function of money. When we had the property on the edge of town, we had 8 acres (this property is 0.7 acres). The plans for that property were crazy extensive because we had to build our own road, utilities, sewage, and parking for I,200. Building eight acres of asphalt is expensive. 
    5.. This property is evangelistically strategic. When you crest the hill from Lewiston, the first thing you see is the steeple. 
    6.. Bebee and Germer are part of the consortium who owns this property. 
    7.. This is semi-public and would be hard to blow apart. This is a sealed-deal as far as we're concerned. 
    8.. The use of third party buyer was because of our previous two experiences. 
    9.. The third party buyer has already signed the commitment to purchase. We're putting together our money so that we can buy it from him immediately. 
    10.. The Daniel Lee architectural plan would have to be modified for this property. Or we may want to start from scratch. 
    11.. The plans we have are late Roman with touches of early Gothic. It looks like a historic Christian church. 
    12.. The whole complex (including the fellowship hall) would be consistent looking. 
    13.. There would be a beautification plan during that 2-3 year wait. We could use this property for NSA parking. 
    14.. The Intoleristas might try to work through the current city council to stop the purchase. 

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