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Channing Memorial Church |
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For several years it has been obvious that maintenance of our properties has not kept pace with the normal rate of deterioration that has occurred, and our budgets have not allowed us to restore our structures. Our congregation's current size and annual giving, although generous, will not be sufficient to maintain our sanctuary and other buildings and grounds, even with additional funding for historic preservation by charitable foundations.
In 2004, CMC commissioned a "Capital Needs Assessment" from the On-site Insight Company of Needham, MA. This engineering study looked at our three buildings in great detail, from roof to cellar, from pipe to conduit, from wall to wall and from room to room. They laid out a 20-yr estimate of what it would take to maintain and restore the infrastructure. They did not look into restoration of our artwork.
Six general areas of examination included: Our Site (land, driveway, walkways, playground); Accessibility )stairs, ramps, signage; Mechanical Rooms (boilers, furnaces); Mechanical and Electrical (wiring, circuit breakers); Architectural (Roof, steeple, pinnacle, interiors, floors; and Dwelling Units (apartments and offices, kitchens, bathrooms).
The report then went into great detail about each of these areas. Copies of the report are available in the Channing House office. There is ample photo-documentation of each area. Following the narrative description is a detailed financial analysis of the costs of maintenance, allowing for inflation, over each of the next twenty years. What follows is a summary of that report, illustrating what your Property Committee thinks will be needed in the next few years. The figures are from On-Site Insight.
SITE: Significant settling of the driveway and walkways is obvious, due to water and drainage problems. Restoring this will cost over $200,000 up front, with about $500 each year over the next five years until larger expenses again will be necessary.
ACCESSIBILITY: most of this has been completed, but new ramps will be needed in the not-too-distant future and will cost over $10,000.
MECHANICAL ROOM: New boilers within the next five years may cost over $50,000. They will require annual maintenance.
MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL: In the next three or four years the electrical system upgrades will cost about $15,000.
ARCHITECTURAL: Roofing, gutters, bathroom and kitchen renovation and masonry repair may cost $150,000 easily.
DWELLING UNITS: Upgrading living units over the next two to five years will require over $10,000.
In addition we are committed to new fire alarms in 2008, the cost of which could run $45,000.
Many readers may not have seen this information before and will find it to be daunting. The rest of us will find it educational, challenging, even disheartening. It is all part of the Year of Decision.
Surely we all have ideas to share, that will allow us to find sources of revenue for our property and our programs. It is a big task, calling for big imaginations.