Marc Leblond, a job superintendent for H.E. Callahan Construction, of Auburn, has set up headquarters in the back of the Broad Bay Congregational Church sanctuary. While the groundbreaking for the church renovation is set for Nov. 8, some demolition work is expected to start this week.
On Friday, Nov. 8, Waldoboro community leaders and representatives from H.E. Callahan Construction will help Broad Bay Congregational Church in Waldoboro break ground for the church’s phase-one renovation project. The public is invited to the 10 a.m. ceremonial groundbreaking, which will be followed by refreshments.
“We are so excited to see work starting on this long anticipated project,” said the Rev. Nancy Duncan. “We also are blessed by the support of everyone in the community who donated to this effort and look forward to continuing to work with the community so that this building may be a place not only for the worshiping community but for the wider community as well.”
The groundbreaking follows a more than four-year process, which included building assessments, planning conversations, grant applications, fundraising, and choosing an architect and construction manager. An early seed grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places included money for Duncan and members Katherine Osborne and Jonathan Clowes to travel to Texas for training on fundraising and also covered a portion of the cost of initial design work by Barba + Wheelock Architects.
After consultant Full Harvest Fundraising was hired, groups consisting of members and community supporters, led by A Place for All Capital Campaign co-chairs Osborne and Dorothy Petersen, started in-house fundraising in summer 2018, with a public kickoff in September 2018.
In May, the congregation and community celebrated Broad Bay Congregational Church’s 35th anniversary, and reached its fundraising goal. More than $500,000 was raised by church members and community members, making Broad Bay eligible for the $250,000 matching grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places. The church also has received a $60,000 grant from the Maine Steeples Fund.
The goals of Broad Bay’s project are to make the church space safer, more accessible, and more flexible. It includes repair to the steeple’s timber frame, new steeple foundations, a renovated entry narthex (including a vertical lift and reconfigured and safer stairs), accessible restrooms on both floors, removal of the dilapidated side annex, a new emergency exit near the front of the sanctuary, and numerous other critical repairs.
While construction was expected to start in summer, as bids were being received, the building committee learned that because of labor shortages, an increase in cost of materials, and a previous underestimation by a primary subcontractor, costs would be higher. During the month of September, as H.E. Callahan’s vice president of operations, David Cushman, sought to nail down prices, several Broad Bay members stepped in to cover some of the price gap while building committee members (along with H.E. Callahan and Barba + Wheelock), identified cost savings as well as some work that congregants could do themselves.
With the project scope and pricing finally confirmed, construction mobilization began in mid-October. Construction is expected to last approximately six months, with completion by Easter 2020.
For more information on Broad Bay Congregational Church or if one has questions, contact the church office at 832-6898 or broadbayucc@gmail.com or visit the church website at broadbaychurch.org.
