St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, ELCA

Construction Updates

Stained Glass Window -- this is the artist rendering of the stained glass window which will be placed in the front brick wall of the sanctuary when renovations begin in January 2009.

Click on any of the following file tabs to view our architectural drawings....

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On May 6, 2007, we broke ground for our new buildings.  It led to a long summer of waiting -- permits take time.  We moved the little yellow Vicar house on August 12, 2007.  The next day we received a huge mountain of dirt.  Excitement. Then we waited some more.

The first week of October brought tree protection fences, heavy equipment, yellow construction tape, and construction workers.  Then work stopped again.

On December 11, 2007, we appeared before the Durham Board of Adjustment to obtain a Certificate of Use permit, which was granted. We could not proceed with construction without the permit, which in itself is a long, detailed conversation. With this behind us, we hope to proceed at a faster pace in the new year.

January 4, 2008 brought bulldozers on the property, tearing down walls, sidewalks, and driveway! The Pickett Road entrance of the property is now closed and will be so quite a while. Please use caution entering and exiting from Cornwallis Road, as all traffic in our parking lot will be traveling through that entrance. February brought us the much-needed rain. Parking lots are being crunched.

March and April brought more rain. We continued moving unsuitable soil out and getting the new fellowship hall space ready with good fill. We are making repairs to our drainage system. By the end of May we have completed footers for the fellowship hall space, helical piers installed for the atrium area, new parking lot curbing, steel being delivered, stone base going down to prepare for concrete slabs. Soon you will see the steel being hung followed by cement block walls.

June was a busy month. The preparation work for the concrete base for the atrium and fellowship hall space was completed and it was poured on June 17.  Progress will continue with steel going up, and work being done on the elevator tower. 

Mid-July and we have steel up and concrete block walls being erected.  Now August and things are really moving along. We have concrete block walls, already damp-proofed, and brick installation going on. A/C ductwork, utility chases, and conduits are going into the walls. The new sign out front at the corner has been installed. Block work is continuing on the stair/elevator tower.

By the end of September brick work is finishing up. Plumbing, electric, fire sprinkler system, HVAC -- all works in progress.  We have had rain/water problems this past month. Storefronts have been added (frames for doors and windows) and glass is starting to go in. 

Now October and we have drywall going up. Glass is almost complete, sprinkler system is continuing. Offices and classrooms are shaping up with the work progressing into our present area. The present nursery was shortened by five feet to accommodate work on the new office wing corridor. Same situation downstairs: the classrooms on the east side will be turned over to construction on Monday, October 6 to begin demolition and reconstruction. This should enable us to get our classrooms space back earlier.

Now the end of October and drywall is up, patched and lots of final paint is on. Glass is in. Utilities continue coming. Curbing, sidewalks, and parking lot have begun, and we should soon see landscaping and grass.

Into December and as usual, construction always brings changes. We are moving along with paint on the walls, utilities continuing to be installed, HVAC units in, gas lines in, sidewalks are being poured, courtyard construction is beginning with concrete base being poured. Bathrooms are being tiled, fixtures installed. We're starting to see doors in lots of places now. Ceiling grids are in, ceiling vents and lights are progressing along. Landscaping has appeared over the last week. We are looking good!

There have been some electrical panel issues which will probably delay our occupancy of the new space until January 5, 2009. Then we will proceed quickly to move everything out of the old space into the new and turn the old over to the construction team for renovations.

We are now in the new year -- 2009 -- and still awaiting our partial occupancy permit. The rainy weather is great unless you need it dry to pave parking lot. Things are still moving along with the hopes of occupying new space late January. Check out the photos -- lots going on!

The end of January brought about our move to the new spaces. Moved but not yet occupied. That would come in another couple weeks. By the end of February, we had moved into the new building and the construction began on renovations to the old spaces.

Now in March 2009, we are worshiping in Trinity Hall, having new classroom spaces and new nursery downstairs which are used by Sunday School, adult meetings during the week, and nursery during worship. Renovations have begun on the additional offices, the expanded library and archives area, new workroom, new reception office, renovated kitchen next to the fellowship hall, and lounge/cry-room area. The sanctuary is undergoing many changes such as the opening being cut in the front wall for the stained glass window, sprinkler system installed, pews being refurbished, new sacristy, new sound booth, doors at the entrance to the narthex from the foyer.

Mid July and we are back in the sanctuary. Lots to finish and fine-tune so please be patient.

September -- Dedication Sunday, September 13 at 10:00 am!  Come and enjoy the festivities! We can now enjoy a much improved and enlarged campus. The sanctuary has an added beautiful stained glass window, additional balcony space, new lighting, new sound system and renovated furnishings. The entranceways have all been upgraded. We have a wonderful new space in Trinity Hall for fellowship activities and meals - doubling our previous space and added a commercial kitchen. We have added classrooms, offices, conference room, parlor, new nursery space, expanded the library, fire-sprinkled the entire place, upgraded electrical, plumbing, lighting, added green features, improved the exterior with garden spaces, landscaping, fountains, brick sculpture, sidewalks, fencing, new playground. The entire building is now ADA compliant, enhanced with an elevator -- the list of major improvements and enhancements is extensive. It is a place which we will enjoy and grow into for years to come. Come - enjoy - look around and envision how our space can be utilized now and in the future!

Photos of Construction Progress

We've changed the photo library to include only the most recent photos. Older photos can be found on our photo page.

Click on the photos below and it will enlarge in the space below that.