Gym Improvement Project
    Why did we do it?
  • St. Paul’s Gymnasium is in many respects the public face of our school.  Many people enter here first as they come for various events such as sports, plays, musicals, etc.  While our gym was serving its purpose, the floor was showing signs of wear and tear, our bleachers were not as accessible to grandmas and grandpas as they could be, and a more adaptable space for the various activities held within it was becoming more and more necessary. While no single one of these issues screamed "Do an entire gym renovation!"  It became apparent that doing it all at once would be more cost effective.
    So what did we do?

  • The Gym Improvement Project included …
    • A new wood floor which does more than keep up with other facilities around us but also provides a safer surface on which to play.  The main floor also moved away from the bleachers providing a bit more room in front of the bleachers.
    • More fans and added insulation to the walls which in combination with an air system under the floor should take care of the humidity issues we have been experiencing during our tournament while lowering heating bills.
    • New bleachers which are retractable to add room to the gym when used for a playground in poor weather and more practice room should we need it.  These bleachers also are up to current codes with railings and even areas for those in wheel chairs.
    • New basketball hoops (six, two more than the previous four) which are adjustable to better serve all of our students here at St. Paul’s (lowering from 10 ft. to 8ft heights).  The addition of these hoops also gives us the ability to have two cross courts when the bleachers are retracted.
    • Moved the door of the cleaning storage room so that it is accessed in the school hallway rather than the gymnasium.  This allows concessions workers to travel in and out of this room without entering the gym.  It will also protect the floor from milk, cleaning, and storage traffic common to that storage room.
    What does all that cost?
  • Total Cost of Project: $130,000*

    Phase One: $20,000*
    Installation of fans and insulation of the gym walls.

    Phase Two: 80,000*
    Installation of the new floor and the moving/installation of basketball equipment.

    Phase Three: $25,000*
    Installation of the new bleachers

    Phase Four: $5,000*
    Installation of new scoreboard

    All total we stayed just under the budgeted $130000 and got the most bang for our buck through the volunteer labor offered by several of our members. 
    How are we going to pay for this?
  • That's a great question!  One that gives us opportunity to talk about Biblical Stewardship.  A great resource to spend some time reading is a short book from the People's Bible Teaching Series by Pastor Arno Wolfgramm entitled Stewardship: What I do with what God gave me. It's available in our church library.  Stewardship will be key in answering this question. We are asking for the family of believers to pull together, to offer up their time, talents and treasure for the completion of this project.
    The uncollected portion came from loans pulled from three locations (Building Loan - $31000, Church - $26000 and School - $12000). It got the gym built but obviously we would like to replenish those dollars as quickly as possible.  They were really saved in expectation of other upcoming expenses.  To date we have gathered about $80,000 of $130,000.  It is our hope that this number will continue to grow as people respond to the message of Christ crucified with their acts of thanksgiving (see Romans 12:1).
    We can do this! While most of our volunteer opportunities have past, there are also plenty of opportuites to help out moniterily.  There are envelopes in the school hallway and the church narthex for members to give directly to this project!  Offerings are the best way to accomplish this task becasue there is little to no other overhead in acquiring those funds (you give and it all goes directly to the Gym Improvement Loans, but there are other things that can be done as well.  Some of which are pretty fun too.  Currently, the Gym Improvment Committee holds a Bowl-A-Thon each year.  We pretty much fill a bowling ally with St. Paul's families who have a great time beating up bowling pins while they beat up some of the debt.  A portion of all of our St. Paul's gear purchases also go to the Gym fund, not to mention that this makes you look great and provides loads of publicity as you wear your St. Paul's gear in the community!  The school has also had penny wars and other fun giving opportunities available over the years, so keep your eyes open for ways to donate!
    How can I help?

  • The work is completed! Volunteer labor shaved some expense off the renovation as our members used time and talent to help out.  Now it's all about Stewardship as discussed under the last bullet point.  Grab a Gym Improvement Envelope to donate to this project and don’t forget about the regular opportunities to help with our mortgage and our regular yearly budget.  Your offerings make a big difference around here.

    Continue to volunteer as many opportunites for cleaning and upkeep become available.  Anything we can do in house without paying someone else saves money, allowing it to be used to pay off debts and fund other ministries.  You may think your impact is small but we promise you, it is not!

    Finally, don’t forget to pray for this project. When we go to our God,  He listens and responds in ways that are better for us than we could have ever imagined.
Click Here for Pictures of the Project
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Work is completed and the gym is currently cycling through it's first year of service.  A special thanks goes out to all who assisted from construction to electrical, doors and the unloading of trucks.  We saved a lot by giving of our time and talent.  Now comes the phase which can seem to drag on forever if we don't stay committed to the project ... Payment of our loans.  All said and done that will apprach the $70,000 mark ($31,000 in construction loan, $12,000 from the school and $26,000 from the church).  Stewardship is going to be key and not just in relationship to our gym project but also for our mortgage and the regular church budget.  Those three loans pull at already tight purse stings and the faster we replenish what was removed the quicker other needs can be addressed.  The goal is to be completely debt free again as a congregation sooner than later and that means taking a long hard look at personal finances and asking how you personally can help in that endeavor.  Then pray!  The lord of the Church listens to our prayers and responds in ways we can't even imagine.  With His help we can move mountains!

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (Malachi 3:10)
Help us reach our goal!

The quicker we get there the less stress this project puts on our budget and mortgage payments. If we all pull together, we can pay this off now!