The Projects

Named in honor of Dick and Julia Gray Michaux, the new building to the east will combine the recently acquired corner house at 1135 West Franklin, and the Baker House (1133 West Franklin) with new construction to provide 27,900 square feet of handicapped-accessible meeting, program classroom, multipurpose, fellowship, outreach, and kitchen space. The historic facades of the corner house and Baker House have been preserved.

Through an attractive entrance into the corner house, visitors will be welcomed by lovely existing parlors opening into a spacious new parish hall. Numerous classrooms will be situated on the basement, second, and third floors.

The parish hall will be 30 percent larger than the current Gibson Hall and served by a robust kitchen much better suited to produce the 15,000 meals we prepare each year. Classrooms and multipurpose spaces will adapt to provide meeting spaces for older children and adults, enabling Bible studies and programs to grow well beyond current limits.

St. James’s present facilities for Christian Formation and for fellowship in Gibson Hall will be renovated to provide more efficient spaces to accommodate the needs of our Sunday School, the church’s Children’s Center, and music programs.

An inviting entrance from the courtyard will lead into a bright and welcoming commons area. This will lead to a fully reconfigured building that includes:

• Ample space for the St. James’s Children’s Center to grow beyond its current 68 students
• Dedicated classroom space for our two-year-old through first grade level
• Additional Children’s Center offices
• Additional work space for both schools
• A large room for children’s choirs and reconfigured rehearsal space for adult choirs
• An Additional music office
• Larger classrooms

Going Green

It ain’t easy bein’ green. Kermit the Frog’s immortal words can be easily applied to our lives as we wrestle daily with giving up our plastic bottles of water and grocery sacks, and other sacrifices small and large to address our growing environmental challenges. And so it goes for construction projects as well.

At the urging of parishioners and designers alike, the Michaux House construction and renovation of St. James’s Sunday School building and Gibson Hall incorporates an impressive collection of environmentally friendly systems and materials all intended to create a sustainable building that’s energy efficient and cost effective.

“We all want to do what’s environmentally proactive, and we have pursued that goal to the extent possible without taking cost prohibitive steps,” explained Ben Cox, designer with Marcellus Wright Cox, architects for the east expansion and renovation projects. So, while it might not be feasible to heat and light the new building using only solar or wind-generated power, there are a number of other steps that can – and are – being taken to make our new and newly refurbished buildings “green.”

Building materials such as the brick are either recycled from the existing building or manufactured within 500 miles of the project site, which supports the use of indigenous resources and reduces the impact of transportation – our carbon footprint. “We are essentially recycling a whole building,” said Cox. “Most of what we have torn out of the existing buildings at the site would normally have gone straight to the landfill, but we are reusing them whenever possible.”

The various ceramic tiles and grouts being used contain up to 45 percent recycled material. Acoustic ceiling tiles can be recycled, and the general and kitchen ceiling tiles have no formaldehyde and low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.

Carpeting selected for the second floor (children’s corridors) is an EPA Presidential “Green Chemistry” Award winner. Third floor and front stair carpet are certified “Cradle to Cradle” products, which insure their recyclable, healthy content. Even the rubber stair treads, risers and landing material are produced locally, contain recycled, renewable content and are certified as healthy, low-VOC.

All hardwoods purchased for the construction are harvested from U.S. forests where the growth rate exceeds tree removal.

“We have tried to find a compromise between proactive and often very expensive environmental systems such as those certified by the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and cost constraints that are inherent in any construction project,” said Cox. It ain’t easy, but it’s important.