Lynn Van Dine A back view of the newly expanded building at St. Christopher’s Church in Chatham. The first service in the new church is Dec. 20. After six years of planning and 14 months of construction, St. Christopher’s Church in Chatham is ready to open its new, renovated facility at 625 Main Street.

The remodeling and expansion project increased the size of the sanctuary while adding new meeting rooms and offices on five different levels.  A new elevator also will improve access to all areas of the church.  The final element of the project—a  new stained glass window on the Main Street side of the church—will be installed next April.
 
The project cost $4.9 million.  The congregation contributed $3.9 million, with the balance coming from various church investment portfolios, interest income and a bequest.  

The original building dates to 1879 when it was a Universalist meeting house.

Rector Brian W. McGurk hopes the new facility can better serve the needs of the Chatham community.  “I think it is all very uplifting,” he said.  “This new building has basically caught up with our ministries.”

McGurk will officiate at the first service in the new church at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 20.

The church hired Dan Barton of Maugel Architects Inc. of Harvard, who specializes in church projects.  It retained Delphi Construction Inc. of Waltham as the construction management firm.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Bruce Wood of Chatham, a parishioner who oversees the project as chair of the church’s Building Committee.  “But it’s been worth the journey.”

The church never closed during construction.  It continued its local outreach projects and ministries while McGurk and assistant rector Gail S. Smith held weekly worship services in the parish hall and chapel.  The staff worked in two tiny Sunday school classrooms above the parish hall that were converted into office space.

The sanctuary represents the focal point of the project.  It nearly doubled in size and increased seating space by 42 percent.  Using pews and movable chairs, seating in the sanctuary is flexible and can accommodate community concerts and other performances.
  
Lynn Van Dine The church’s new reception area. The new elevator allows access to the sanctuary and all levels of the complex.  “That was an important part of the project,” McGurk said.  “The old church just didn’t allow for any ease of access.  It was difficult to get around.” 
 
Overall, the size of the church complex increased from 6,100 square feet to 14,600 square feet.
 
The project encountered several major obstacles along the way.
 
Some of the town’s sewer and water pipes ran directly under the old church’s courtyard and offices, making any expansion virtually impossible.  Working with town officials and developer Ronald Rudnick, the church got permission to move the pipes—at its expense—under the alley between the church and businesses on Main Street..

“Believe it or not, that was huge,” McGurk said.  “We’re so grateful to the town and Mr. Rudnick for letting us move the pipes.  Without their support, the project could not have gone forward.”

Then, in November 2008, Delphi crews doing site work in the back yard dug up soil they suspected was contaminated with oil or gasoline.  Their suspicions proved correct.

Over the past year the church removed 365 tons of contaminated soil from the front and back yards, treated 2.5 million gallons of contaminated water and discovered and removed a partially filled underground fuel storage tank.

These cleanup efforts cost the church $263,000.
 
“What’s a little frustrating is the contamination came from surrounding businesses–gas stations and auto repair shops–that no longer exist,” McGurk said.  “And clearly, back in those days, people didn’t worry too much about what they dumped.  But we felt we had a moral responsibility to clean up what we could.”

Lynn Van Dine The Rev. Brian W. McGurk, Rector, and The Rev. Gail S. Smith, Assistant Rector. “This new building has basically caught up with our ministries,” McGurk said. The church has applied to the Commonwealth for a deed restriction on a section of the back yard.  The restriction–called an activity and use limitation—acknowledges that the cleanup has reached a level of “no significant risk” on church property but puts minor restrictions on specific future uses.
 
“With a project of this scope, you just can’t anticipate everything,” McGurk said.  “But we think we’ve acted in the best interests of the community and left the area in a better condition than we found it.

“We believe we’ve created something that will serve our parishioners, and the town of Chatham, for generations to come.  We couldn’t be more excited.”

--Lynn Van Dine