Since the FCUCC community first purchased their historic downtown 1920’s stone church with a 1960’s era education building addition around 2004, we have provided them with a number of facility studies, code and ADA evaluations, and comprehensive facility renovation designs which have been used to construct upgrades.
The facility had a number of deferred maintenance issues and was comprised of a number of floors, at various levels, with only one, the lower level of the education wing, having accessibility from a rear grade entrance.
The largest of these projects we helped the FCUCC community with was renovation of the lower level of the church to upgrade the fellowship hall for a variety of uses including dinners, performances, and temporary use as a shelter.
We enlarged and brought into commercial compliance their church kitchen and added accessible restrooms and a shower, and linked this level with ramps to the education building and through an existing stairway to a lift that led to an exterior accessible ramp/entry that we designed and was added in a previous renovation.
New building systems were added to serve this lower level including the addition of geothermal heating/cooling. A continuous “loop” system was also added below the floor finishes to provide hearing assistance to those with hearing loss.
A subsequent project was recently completed to provide a new accessible ramp, at the front of the church, to the entrance of the education wing.
Mathews Architecture
