The “Growing in Faith – Building for the Future” campaign has successfully passed another milestone!  During a congregational meeting on April 28^th, St. James membership unanimously approved the hiring of Robert Olsen + Associates Architects by approving the motion presented by the Building Team:

"We, the Building Committee of St. James, make a motion to hire Rob Olson and Associates architects, along with the necessary consultants and engineering professionals necessary to develop final construction plans for the renovations and additions to St. James Lutheran Church; monies spent not to exceed $105,000."

This milestone was preceded by several months of “homework” by the St. James Building Committee.  In early January, several firms were invited to bid on the design phase of our project.  Since the team did not feel that the two resulting bids were sufficient to confidently measure the market, they invited four additional firms to provide proposals.

When the team received six solid proposals, they began reviewing and “leveling” the proposals so that they could compare ‘apples to apples’.   Next, the team conducted in-depth interviews with four firms, checked references, and reviewed each proposal in more detail.  This carefully conducted process clearly indicated that Robert Olsen + Associates Architects was the right firm for us.

The team firmly believes that Rob Olson has the strength of leadership necessary to move us through the design and construction phase.  Their well thought out proposal set clear guidelines and milestones that we should expect over the next few months.  The team received excellent feedback from contractors and clients who have worked with Olson in the past and felt that Olson was really listening to our needs.

If excellent credentials, previous experience with religious organizations, and genuine interest in our project were not enough, Rob Olson brings even more to our project — he, himself, is a Lutheran!  His insightful questions and comments during the proposal phase showed that he understands our culture and “talks our language”.  We will not need to introduce him to the community concepts around which our spaces need to be designed – he is already quite at home with the Lutheran faith community.

Over the next few months, expect to see some exciting project developments. 
Stay tuned!

Design Concept

Exterior
 

Upper Level

Lower Level

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