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Renatus on the Hill


jbr12

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That old church is a beautiful building. Sadly it looks like it has a date with the wrecking ball as the wood TV article seems to hinting at. However I hope the developer that will take ownership of this property will take care to salvage valuable parts of the building especially the stain glass windows before tearing it down.
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Hello everyone.

I appreciate the interest and everyone's comments about Bethleham and the plans for conversion. I represent the development group that has been given the opportunity to own this exceptionally special and truly rare building.

Mr. Pentecost would like everyone to know that there is absolutely no intention whatsoever to demo or damage the building in any way. He intends to preserve the integrity of the building and honor the past historical significance of both the building and the roots of the congregation.

We also are very sensitive to being an excellent neighbor within Heritage Hill, while attempting to transition this special property from it's present use to a new use that we hope will be just as significant and beautiful as it's previous life. A lot of study has gone into other projects around the world and we sincerely hope to get it right all the way through the project. Also, we intend to listen to, and involve the neighbors throughout the process in the hopes of achieving a truly special project that everyone can be excited about.

To answer just a few of the other concerns and questions that appear here, the sale of the building does not include the large parking lot to the north. There is a small lot that is part of the church property.

As for the interior treatment, I can only say that the building has stunning features inside and the interior talent that has been chosen for the project sees this building as a "total work of art" . She considers it a real honor to be given a chance to work on the project, so I hope any concerns about an over abundance of drywall will disappear as more specific plans are shared and the character of the project begin to come more into focus.

I'm new to the forum but I've read many comments on many subjects here today. I hope to engage with all of you on a number of subjects as I too, am infatuated with high rise buildings, cool outside of the box spaces, the unbelievable pent up potential of Grand Rapids, and our collective futures together as citizens of a truly great city in waiting. - kev

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I'm new to the forum but I've read many comments on many subjects here today. I hope to engage with all of you on a number of subjects as I too, am infatuated with high rise buildings, cool outside of the box spaces, the unbelievable pent up potential of Grand Rapids, and our collective futures together as citizens of a truly great city in waiting. - kev

Welcome Moore&Co! It sounds like a great project and personally I can't wait to see the plans.

We've also discussed here the possibility of something similar being done in the Broadway & 1st project on the West side, with Our Lady of Aglona Church:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=broadway

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Welcome Moore&Co! It sounds like a great project and personally I can't wait to see the plans.

We've also discussed here the possibility of something similar being done in the Broadway & 1st project on the West side, with Our Lady of Aglona Church:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=broadway

Thanks very much for your sentiments. We'll be sure to keep the group informed of our plans as we go along.

As to the Broadway and 1st project, I personally would do everything I could to save a unique and historic structure. It would be interesting to explore working it into the new construction, but I haven't seen the plans and it's a little unfair for me to make a judgement without benefit of inside info. The project is a little bold for me given the surrounding market and the sluggish economy but I do support re-use of existing infrastucture, new tax base for the schools, and re-vitalization of existing neighborhoods. I hope they will seriously consider saving the church. There are so many possibilities if the circumstances are right and most people are simply unaware what it can become. - kev

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Well, I'm sure it will be pretty cool, but I still feel like something is being lost simply by subdividing slicing up old churches. A church can exist in any space, it's just made up of people after all. But it does seem a little odd to me that old churches would be in great demand for residential use, while churches keep moving out into bland suburban buildings. My hometown church up in Petoskey is moving from downtown out to the fringes. :(

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Trinity Missionary Church. It's pretty much downtown right now on State Street just west of Petoskey Street. One of the complaints about that location is the lack of parking, which is total BS. Sure, the church doesn't own any parking, but there's a small office next door and a bank branch across the street with parking, neither of which are being used on Sundays. That's why urban spaces work, we don't need to waste so much land for asphalt!

Anyway, I haven't heard of any plans for the church. Perhaps a new church will find it's a perfect "starter church" and move in. I don't think it has any historical designation, and I'm not sure when it was built, but I would guess sometime in the 20's. It's not particularly significant architecturally-speaking, but it looks like a church.

BTW, my dad is originally from Boyne City. I have a bunch of family there. What I like about Boyne is that it's off 131 enough that it hasn't become all sprawled out. There has been a lot of development there recently, but it's still a very compact and nice town. Our family owns the old bus garage downtown Boyne City, so if anybody is interested in redeveloping that give me a shout. :)

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Turn a Church into a nightclub ? Don't you go straight to hell for that ?

:lol: Maybe. Clutch Cargo's in Pontiac is a church that now holds concerts. I saw Rammstein there several years ago. It felt a little... weird. It's kind of a lousy space for concerts though.

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I didn't realize this church was moving to that cool garage space on Ionia behind Purple East that was renovated a few years ago (I thought they were moving into a warehouse South of Wealthy).. That's too bad. I think it helps reinforce the argument with the concentration of missions in that area, it's difficult to draw new commercial tenants. The cool old garage at Commerce and Weston has also been sitting vacant for a while now.

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I wouldn't imagine so.. unless Mr. London was the one doing it. =p

vision01.gifvision04.gif

vision02.gif

That's the former congregational area.. all a dance floor with small stage for DJs, and 3 stories of catwalks and steel spiral staircases winding around the room, with blue lights representing stars floating around on the ceiling (mid-party they added different lights to the ceiling, but that was how they ran it the whole time for the opening acts)

It was a mind-blowing experience just exploring that thing, let alone the actual music.

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South of the river. And to my knowledge it's currently vacant, though I seem to remember some talk of something in there so I could be wrong. I suppose I could find out easily enough though.

I should have mapquested the address :blush: . I know the building - used to have a sailboard, kayak watersport shop for a tenant. I did't know it was a bus garage at one time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

omnivore-

Having said you are living through the schism at BLC, are you implying that you are a member of the congregation? Has anyone seen the plans for the Heartside warehouse church yet?

They mailed out a proposed layout for dividing the interior space. They are currently meeting with Design+ to finalize the design. I believe they are solving the public urination problem by installing urinals in the narthex. [kidding]

I'm surprised how upset I feel about leaving the current church building. It felt as though the decision to move was forced on us. What really upsets me is that I was out of town the week of the vote and was not allowed to vote. [Members had to be present to vote.]

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