Master Site Plan
Copies of the concept and analysis drawings are available in the church office.
ST. PETER’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
ROME, GEORGIA
MASTER PLANNING PROGRESS REPORT to the PARISH
St. Peter’s Master Planning Committee has reached a significant point in the master planning process and would like to brief you on the process and conclusions we have reached at this point. Since the spring of this year the Committee has been working in parallel with the Strategic Planning Committee, monitoring their work and progress. With the completion of the 4 Goals 4 Years Strategic Plan the Master Planning Committee is now prepared to present this progress report.
While Goal 3 from the Strategic Planning Committee’s Plan clearly says that the congregation believes some physical changes are needed to improve St. Peter’s core facilities and to plan for its future space needs, the Master Planning Committee feels that the present and future physical quality of St. Peter’s is also deeply rooted in and intertwined with all four goals of the Strategic Plan. Each of the goals speaks to St. Peter’s physical church condition and future plans, if not directly, certainly indirectly in support of the programs and spirit that are unique to the St. Peter’s church community.
SP Goal 1: Strengthen and Build Our Inreach Ministry – The programs for ALL of St. Peter’s current and future members should be supported with sufficient and appropriately designed facilities that convey the life of and respond to the uplifting spirit of St. Peter’s community.
SP Goal 2: Enhance Communication within the Parish and our Community – The nature and condition of St. Peter’s buildings and spaces serves and shapes its members, and tells a story about what St. Peter’s is like as a church community. What its facilities look and feel like is a part of “defining who we are”. The quality of the facilities affects the spirituality of its members. It also communicates a message to potential newcomers.
SP Goal 3: Facilities: Inventory and Preserve What We Have; Plan and Build for the Future – A ritualistic maintenance program that is proactive rather than reactive is needed to preserve St. Peter’s facilities for the long term. Making welcoming and harmonious improvements, enhancements and additions to St. Peter’s historic buildings, spaces and grounds will support “naming its brand” and demonstrates the responsible role it wants to play in the Rome Community.
SP Goal 4: Broaden the Church’s Financial Base – The establishment of an endowment will some day provide the resources needed to further solidify St. Peter’s programs and facilities. However, until that time comes, the present and future facilities are the largest single asset that St. Peter’s will have. Stewardship of this physical asset and carefully considered modifications to it are paramount to preserving its value.
Within this spirit the Master Planning Committee has addressed the interrelated aspects of St. Peter’s 1) deferred maintenance, 2) current functional improvements and 3) short and long range space needs. The Committee has approached all three aspects in response to the Strategic Planning Committee’s report and goals, focusing toward a set of overall conclusions that represents a comprehensive plan for needed facility improvements and expansion. At this point in time the Master Planning Committee has developed a set of “concepts” to resolve the identified physical issues and to capitalize on St. Peter’s physical assets, with a beginning view toward priorities and phasing. Before finalizing its work, however, the Master Planning Committee is most interested in the parish’s thoughts and response to its work progress and concepts.
The following assessments and concepts have been developed by the Master Planning Committee.
I. Deferred Maintenance
A comprehensive maintenance list has been drafted, incorporating the Planning Committee’s knowledge of history and current plans to address maintenance issues. Some of the identified maintenance issues would be resolved with certain Master Plan concept recommendations for future space and facilities, because they would be part of facility renovations or modifications. An example of a maintenance issue being a part of a recommended concept is the current Chapel wall moisture penetration. This problem will be cured if the areaways between the Chapel and Daniel Hall are someday enclosed as new interior space, as suggested later in this report.
As the Master Planning process is completed, maintenance considerations that are not a part of space renovation and expansion will need to be budgeted alongside the finally recommended concepts. Examples of these would be the someday re-roofing Daniel Hall and the Hight Building, the Chapel/Chancel wall crack, a comprehensive energy audit, etc. These issues will typically involve more detailed inspections and analysis by our architect and engineering consultants in the next steps to follow Master Planning.
II. Accessibility, Circulation and Function
Any final solutions to resolving accessibility and circulation issues within the church must be integral to the functions of how the spaces are or will be used during the various daily programs of the church. A review of accessibility and circulation considerations has yielded recommendations from two perspectives, the first being to address code compliant and “welcoming” forms of accessibility to all areas of the facilities. The second, and perhaps less obvious consideration, is to address general circulation constraints within the existing facilities and how these areas can be improved with any expansion and renovation plans in St. Peter’s future.
Five (5) primary considerations or locations of concern for easy accessibility into and within the church have been identified.
- Sanctuary access from Fourth Avenue, the traditional and ceremonial church entrance
- Access to the Chapel/Sanctuary and Daniel Hall from East First Street, which is most proximate to an area of parking that parishioners may use in the future
- The internal level change between the Chapel & Daniel Hall, as well as the external access between the Hight building and the Willingham House/Memorial garden area.
- The creation of a pattern of “circular flow” within the church complex that provides more than one interior means of accessing all functions within the church (thereby relieving the present circulation bottleneck between the Sanctuary and Daniel Hall)
- The datum level of all existing floors and those of future building additions, and the means of vertical transportation between them (wheelchair lift and elevator)
The concepts developed for improvement of access and function include:
Construction of a new ramp and steps to the Sanctuary along Fourth Avenue, in what is currently the front edge of the front yard of the Willingham House site, leading to a new Narthex structure located at the south side of the nave (somewhat mirroring the belltower). The new Narthex would allow the removal of the present Sanctuary vestibule, returning the Sanctuary to its original condition. The new Narthex would also be accompanied by a new set of restrooms, providing better restroom distribution within the church complex. The existing Fourth Avenue, ceremonial steps to the Sanctuary would remain as is, preserving the integrity of this historic entrance.
Enhancement of the exterior Chapel entry on East First Street as a secondary access point to the Church for worship and weekday activities, with improvements to the entry way and wheelchair ramp. Also, the creation of a Narthex at this entry point would include a full wheelchair lift, replacing the existing inclined stair lift which does not comply with current accessibility standards. It should be noted that there has also been discussion about whether a Narthex is needed at this location.
Creation of a new “circulation path” along the south side of the Sanctuary, linking the Hight Building stair access with the new Narthex. This “path” would complete a much needed circular pattern of access between all existing facilities and future building additions. It would ease the congestion at the current Sacristy/Chapel/Daniel Hall bottleneck, and facilitate more than one access point to the Sanctuary, other church areas and future church facilities. This path might initially be established as an outdoor walkway, with little impact on the Willingham House and Memorial Garden, whereas ultimately it might possibly become an indoor circulation path within future facilities.
Addition of an elevator to provide access to all floors of the Hight Building, to the Sanctuary floor level and the floors of any future building additions. Its location, proximate to the location of any future building addition(s), the floor levels of these additions and the aforementioned circulation path, is critical in order to be able to provide better accessibility to all levels of the existing and any future expanded facilities. The exact location of the elevator would not be determined without further, more detailed, planning in a preliminary design phase, however it should be as central as possible to all existing and future facilites.
III. Present and Future Space Needs
An analysis has been made of present and future space needs, addressing additional existing functional deficiencies, as well as long-range space requirements based on the ultimate church attendance capacity of the present Sanctuary. For this analysis we assumed 2 primary Sunday worship services and utilized present attendance ratios of the 2 existing services for our projections.
Recommended solutions to other functional deficiencies and considerations include:
- Relocation of the Sacristy to the present Vesting space
- Rearrangement of the existing Sanctuary Chancel to facilitate a more accessible Eucharist and safe flow.
- Creation of a separate circulation spine along the west side of Daniel Hall and enclosure of the exterior areaway between it and the Chapel (preserving natural light to the Chapel)
- Creation of new space for offices, as well as youth and adult classrooms, integrated to the other church facilities
- Considering the repositioning of the existing Memorial Garden such that it will not obstruct future expansion
- Renovation of the existing Hight Building restrooms to improve their accessibility
- Addition of directional and instructional signage, particularly as the church complex grows
Our calculation of the future space needs for a maximum comfortable Sanctuary capacity reveal primarily the need for additional classroom space and, someday, a larger Parish Hall than the present Daniel Hall. Two alternatives to incorporating these spaces into the church’s site are:
12a. Construction of a new “mezzanine” floor level within the existing Daniel Hall to provide immediate additional classroom and office space, incorporating the new elevator and the new connecting walkway between the Hight Building and the new Narthex. At a later time, as the need arises, construct a new Parish Hall south of the existing Sanctuary.
12.b Construction of a new multi-story addition to the Hight Building for new classrooms and offices, immediately west of the present building, separated by a courtyard or atrium. This would also facilitate construction of the new elevator and the new connecting walkway between the Hight Building and the new Narthex. As the future need arises, a new Parish Hall would be constructed further to the West, facing Fourth Avenue and Daniel Hall would be redeployed to other functions such as additional classrooms, a Youth Center and/or other church programs.
Before considering one approach over the other, a more detailed analysis and cost budgeting would need to be performed to determine their economics. Additionally, more detailed programming and aesthetic aspects would need to be considered as well as possible future programs not yet provided. Either of these alternatives would retain both a “church yard” for outdoor functions and the existing south parking area, although possibly not in their present forms.
In order to avoid any future accessibility problems, it is important that any future office and classroom facilities be located at the same floor levels as the existing Hight Building. Similarly, a future Parish Hall should certainly be located at the same floor level as the Sanctuary. Considering the displacement of the Willingham House and the repositioning of the Memorial Garden are integral to achieving these goals. Because St. Peter’s is located within an historic district, consideration of the historic nature of the Willingham House must be carefully considered, with an eye toward relocation of it to a suitable site either on the church’s property or to another appropriate location. Repositioning of the Memorial Garden must be accomplished with consideration for liturgical care and proper reverential respect.
Should St. Peter’s ever consider 3 services or should the ratio of attendance between services vary dramatically from our assumptions, the need for additional program spaces could come sooner than expected.
IV. Worship and Liturgical Considerations
Consideration has been given to the Sanctuary Chancel with respect to improving the Eucharistic flow and experience, and some safety concerns. A concept developed for modifications to the Chancel would dramatically improve these issues and at the same time maintain its historic character. Concept 13 relocates the kneeling rail to the level of the Nave floor at the very front of the existing Chancel, thereby eliminating the need during communion to traverse up steps to the rail and afterward exit through the side doors with low headroom and unsafe steps. This concept would also allow the altar table to be moved forward to improve visibility by the congregation. Accordingly the choir’s seating capacity and comfort would be improved. Both the altar table and the choir would be raised one step above the present choir level. These changes would also provide the opportunity to consider improvements to the air distribution within the Chancel as well as the Nave.
Also in the Sanctuary, two alternative concepts (concept 14a & 14b) have been discussed for the baptismal font:
14a. Raising the font in its present location above the Sanctuary floor on a 7 inch high platform
14b. Relocating the Font to a point just inside the Fourth Street entrance (the current vestibule location).
Either change would improve visibility during baptisms. A final decision regarding any modifications to the Font location should rest with the Rector, Vestry and consultation with other church leaders.
V. Summary
This report is supported by accompanying diagrams developed by our architect. The 14 concepts contained herein provide an umbrella encompassing the work of the Master Planning Committee so far. With these observations and conceptual solutions, and the additional input from the Parish at large, the Master Planning Committee will move toward a focused vision for maintaining, improving and expanding St. Peter’s facilities. Once a determination is made concerning the concepts and their priorities, evermore specific details and budgeting of the final recommendations will be identified in subsequent phases of design development.
The Parish’s feedback and support are important to the Master Planning Committee as it completes its work and makes final recommendations to the Vestry. Once these steps are completed, St. Peter’s leadership will consider moving toward the development of a final vision and plan for a capital campaign.
In closing, the Master Planning Committee would like to emphasize that no master plan is perfect, as most all churches change and grow over time. Once St. Peter’s planning process is completed, the Master Plan should be monitored annually and revisited more fully as any of the planned concepts are accomplished or at most every 5 years.
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