Hazle Township Municipal Authority wants to shop for a better price before converting the former Sacred Heart Church hall into a new office and meeting rooms.

The authority board voted unanimously Wednesday to reject bids for the church hall renovation project after costs for general construction, plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) exceeded $484,000. "Optional" building systems and solar panels would have increased costs to nearly $900,000.

Directors had little to say prior to rejecting the prices, with board Chairman Eugene Rafalli announcing that officials would re-evaluate the project size.

"It was too high a figure," Rafalli said. "We'll see if we can get a better price."

The authority board will likely re-bid the project after accountant Richard Kline reports back with options for refinancing authority debts, Rafalli said. Refinancing would ensure that the church hall project will have no impact on rates, Rafalli said.

"We are not going to make our customers pay anything more," he said.

The authority will also consider "different options" for upgrading the former church hall in Harleigh, he said.

The original project scope included a "green" component, such as solar panels, which will be evaluated in the future.

Forest Hills resident Richard Wienches, who has on several occasions publicly scrutinized the authority board over the project costs, did not attend Wednesday's meeting when the bid rejection vote was cast.

Officials said the church hall project would build new office space, meeting rooms and a storage area at the 5,000-square-foot building. Plans originally included adding new heating and air conditioning units and other upgrades that will allow officials to heat only parts of the building that were in use. At one point, officials discussed the possibility of sharing space at the renovated church hall.

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Church hall work could be re-bid

By Jennifer Jiggetts The Virginian-Pilot May 11, 2012

VIRGINIA BEACH

Leaders of a 170-year-old Kempsville church and the city have reached a proposed settlement over an eminent domain dispute that has spanned nearly 12 years.

The city announced Thursday morning that it will pay Emmanuel Episcopal Church $1.1 million in exchange for half an acre of church property sought by the city to widen and move Princess Anne Road. The city also will transfer to the church about 1.5 acres next to it and will seek closure of a half-acre portion of the old Princess Anne Road to add to the church's property under the proposed deal.

The church will use some of the money to build a 300-foot wall along the new Princess Anne Road to buffer its preschool from the traffic.

The agreement requires approval of both the City Council and the church's vestry.

The city previously offered the church an $852,716 settlement, according to Virginia Beach court records.

Emmanuel Episcopal representatives had been fighting with city leaders over the plan to relocate the intersection of Princess Anne and Kempsville roads.

Church leaders have said that about 12 years ago, before renovating their parish hall and building a preschool, they asked city officials whether there were plans to work on the intersection. They said they were told no and proceeded with the $2 million school construction.

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Va. Beach, church reach agreement over dispute

View 540 Outer Loop in a larger map

Some commuters in western Wake County will face the choice of driving a free, four-mile detour during construction of a new bridge on Green Level Church Road -- or paying a toll for a shorter detour that will open about the same time.

The state Department of Transportation says it has awarded a $2.5 million contract to S.T. Wooten Corp. of Wilson to replace the 60-year-old Green Level Church Road bridge over White Oak Creek at the Cary-Apex town limits.

The contract gives Wooten the option to start work between Aug. 1 and March 1, 2013, with completion in 240 days. While the bridge is closed during construction, drivers will have a detour of four miles via Green Level West, Wimberly and Jenks roads.

The closing affects commuters who use the north-south Green Level Church Road as an alternative to the busy N.C. 55 nearby. It is timed to coincide with the opening in August of a six-lane toll road conceived as a new option for N.C. 55 commuters -- the new extension of Triangle Expressway south from N.C. 55 near RTP to U.S. 64 at Apex.

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Bridge work to close Green Level Church Road as 540 toll road opens

Agencies/Abuja

Crowds of protesters took to the streets of the Nigerian city of Potiskum yesterday over a deadly market attack last week, with a church and classrooms burnt and police firing tear gas. More than a thousand protesters, including traders and clerics, took part in the demonstration in the northeastern city hit by a bomb-and-gun attack last Wednesday at a busy cattle market that killed at least 34 people. Bonfires were set amid the protests and a crowd of youths also vandalised military checkpoints while heckling soldiers manning them in anger over troops failure to foil the attack. At least one church and a number of classrooms were burnt by what police described as miscreants who took advantage of the protest. Police fired tear gas and shot into the air as demonstrators sought to march to the palace of the towns traditional ruler and moved closer to regional police headquarters, witnesses said. No one was reported wounded. Some miscreants took advantage of the peaceful demonstration to go on a rampage, said Moses Onireti, police commissioner for Yobe state, where Potiskum is located. They burnt a church and three blocks of classrooms in a primary school nearby. We have arrested three suspects in the attacks. The police have succeeded in restoring normalcy. Protesters expressed frustration with authorities inability to stop violence in the city. The government must as a matter of urgency fish out the perpetrators of this crime and ensure that they are appropriately punished. This is our demand, said one protester. Demonstrators also held prayers at the scene of the killings. We call on God to expose the criminals that attacked this market and killed people in cold blood and destroyed means of livelihood, said Muslim cleric Goni Yahuza, who led the prayers. Frustration has been growing over violence in Nigeria, hit by scores of deadly attacks blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram. Potiskum has been among the areas hard hit by attacks attributed to the group, and it was included in a state of emergency declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan on December 31. The attack on Wednesday night, said to be the work of armed robbers, was in reprisal for an incident earlier in the day, when a gang sought to rob the market but were fought off by traders who caught one of the attackers. The man who was caught was doused in petrol and a tyre was placed around his neck before he was burnt to death, according to police and residents. Gunmen armed with explosives returned later in the day, burning the market to the ground and killing at least 34 people, whose bodies were taken to a local hospital. Authorities have said the death toll is likely more than 50 because the families of some victims buried them without taking their bodies to the hospital, but firm numbers have not been established. Separately, gunmen yesterday attacked a vehicle carrying staff from a local construction company in northern Nigeria, killing a Nigerian and a Lebanese worker and kidnapping a second Lebanese man, police said. The attack occurred in a village called Kakeyi, in Kaduna state, where they were working on a water project. We suspect this incident was more about armed robbery than kidnapping, said Kaduna state police spokesman Aminu Lawal. Police have commenced investigation into the incident. Kidnapping is big business in Nigeria, mostly in the southeast oil-producing regions, and hostage-taking for ideological reasons is also a growing threat in the largely Muslim north. A British and an Italian hostage were killed by their captors in March during a rescue at tempt by British and Nigerian forces in northwest Nigeria. Islamist militants claiming to be Al Qaedas north African wing released a video in March claiming they were holding a German taken from the norths main city of Kano in January. Boko Haram has repeatedly denied being involved in those kidnappings.

Police estimate that 5% of those killings are acts of vigilante justice.

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Church burnt in Nigeria protest

The oldest church in Lehigh, one that several other churches started their ministries in before building their own churches, is in financial trouble and a spokeswoman for the church said the board of elders and the congregation have decided they have to put the church and the property up for sale.

"We can't continue like this with the finances the way they are," said Ada Thompson, the moderator of the First Community Congregational Church at 200 Leeland Heights Blvd. She speaks for the board and the members of the church. Pastor Deb Frysinger is the pastor.

Thompson said the church has a clear mortgage with no liens against it but that normal expenses and other unexpected expenses like problems with air conditioning and an unexpected problem with the septic system plus other bills have put them in a position of spending more money than the church is taking in.

If it continues, Thompson sees more serious financial problems ahead.

"We have to pay our bills," Thompson said.

Other churches in the area are facing some of the same problems. In fact, Thompson said a church closed a few weeks ago in the Buckingham area because of financial problems.

Thompson also noted that the congregation and those who attend are not able to give offerings to the church like they were before the 2007-08 dip in the economy.

"But most are giving what they can," said Pastor Frysinger.

The First Community Congregational Church was named "First" because, according to Thompson, it was the very first church constructed in Lehigh back in the late 1950s. Those who founded the church are deceased today.

"Those 30 or more people worked hard to build this church. After it had been constructed, there were other church groups in Lehigh who wanted to erect their own churches.

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Money problems plague Lehigh’s first church

Staff Writer

A nearly century-old church and school on Laney-Walker Boulevard could fall victim to the wrecking ball this week, despite efforts by historic-preservation groups to save them.

Demolition of the former church and school buildings could begin as soon as today, despite preservation groups' efforts to save them.

MEG MIRSHAK/STAFF

The auditorium of the former Immaculate Conception School on 11th Street is set to be demolished, along with two classroom buildings and the former sanctuary. After its establishment in 1913, hundreds of children in the Laney-Walker neighborhood attended the school.

Preston Tutt, the vice president of Tutt Contracting Inc., said the demolition of the Immaculate Conception buildings is pending clearance that all asbestos has been removed.

A single-story classroom building facing 11th Street would be the first to go, possibly as soon as today, followed by a two-story classroom building, the former sanctuary and the auditorium.

After the concrete parking lots are removed, grass seed and mulch will be spread to cover the lot, Tutt said. Crews worked Monday to prepare for the demolition.

The church and school were established in 1913 by the African Missionary Fathers of the Catholic Church. Over the years, Laney-Walker neighborhood children of all faiths were educated by Franciscan sisters and lay people.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah moved the schools operations to Telfair Street in 2009. Since then, the diocese has been unable to sell the property, which was listed for close to $550,000, and the buildings continued to deteriorate.

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Historic church, school set for demolition

EAST KNOXVILLE, Tenn (WVLT) -- Members at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Knoxville worship like those at many other churches in East Tennessee, but they do it in their fellowship hall instead of the church's sanctuary.

"It was a hard time, that December the 6th. You know, I've been a member since 1964. It was just something that we had to get over, but with the church family and everything we fought through this," said Warren Scott, a member of the church.

On Sunday, the church held a groundbreaking for its new sanctuary, which will be built where the old one stood. Seven Christian education classrooms will also be built.

"Modern, up-to-date, we'll be able to do radio, television. Anything that they're doing today,we'll be able to do," said Reverend Leroy Franklin.

Children participated in the groundbreaking too - dropping stones from the old church into a golden can.

"The can will be placed in the display and there will be some information about it. And when people ask what does it mean, then we'll be able to tell the story of how they helped to clear the ground and building for the future," said Franklin.

Reverend Franklin says the new sanctuary will be wider, offer more seating and have a taller cross. Members are excited for it, but say even so, it's not where they worship that counts.

"It doesn't matter to me where we have church at - as long as we get together and be together and praise the Lord," said Qiana Bennett, a church member.

Worship will continue in the fellowship hall until July 2013, when the new sanctuary is expected to open.

Reverend Franklin says construction will cost the church about $3.4 million, with insurance covering most of it.

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Church holds groundbreaking ceremony for new sanctuary

Members of Bethel Baptist Church watch the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a sanctuary on Sunday. Construction is expected to be completed by 2013.

TUSCALOOSA | It's been 10 years since the leadership of Bethel Baptist Church first started dreaming of a new, larger sanctuary next to its existing church on 30th Avenue in West End.

On Sunday, that dream took a big step toward fruition.

The Rev. Schmitt Moore, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, broke ground on the new sanctuary with other church leaders as church members celebrated the ministry's expansion. The new building, which will be built adjacent to the existing church, will be about 16,000 square feet and hold about 564 people in the new sanctuary. Construction will take about a year to complete. The church received a loan for construction through Capstone Bank.

This is a great milestone for us, and we are wonderfully blessed, Moore said.

The expanded church will help Bethel Baptist serve the community in a better way, he added, with more space for more members.

The expansion has been a long time coming, said Leon Brown, a deacon at the church.

This is what the building is about, the church's ministry to the community, Brown said. We are here thanking God for this opportunity.

The current church building was built in the 1960s and before that was located near DCH Regional Medical Center. Church member Lucille Owens has been going to Bethel Baptist her entire life and was part of the group that helped the church get built in its current location more than 40 years ago.

I'm very excited about the new building. It's going to be beautiful, Owens said. It's been a long time coming but it's a great day here.

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Bethel Baptist Church breaks ground on its new sanctuary

04-05-2012 05:37

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Cerca Church Construction Assembly Line Pour - Video

04-05-2012 13:47 Belize Mission Trip with International Servants, Dr. Paul Whisnant, and our Belize Mission Staff. Children's Ministry and Church Construction.

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Belize Mission Trip 4 with International Servants and Dr. Paul Whisnant - Video