April 2012 Marks Construction on Stage I See redevelopment photos
Construction on Stage One of the redevelopment of Kamloops United Church property at 4th and St.Paul commenced immediately after the Easter holiday. To mark this occasion, Council Circle and Vision421 Building Society hosted an ”Official Hammer Blow” ceremony at the church site on Saturday Morning, April 14th at 10:30 am. See photos
Stage One includes the new preschool space and meetings rooms in the lower level. The sanctuary remains intact but a new street level entrance, with a lift to improve accessibility, a new hall and kitchen will be on the main level.
As excavation begins, exterior removal of brickwork in affected areas is being removed and will be reused in the new exterior finish. Basement fixtures are being dismantled, and demolition has begun in what used to be the Thrift Shop and Music Room. Congregational members and adherents, decked out in steel-toed boots and hard hats are able to participate in this part of the demolition, and in preparing the bricks for reuse.
March 2012 update
Sunday, March 25th, Council Circle convened a congregational meeting following our worship service. Vision421 presented information about the tender process for construction of Phase One, discussed the total budget projected and illustrated how financial resources will be found. A vote was held with the 
following 2 questions: 1 “that KUC proceed with constructing Stage 1 of the Redevelopment by adopting a total budget of $1,775,000″ and 2 “that the Trustees, on behalf of Kamloops United Church, shall be authorized to borrow up to $1.7 million to complete Stage 1 of the Redevelopment”. This decision is a milestone in the Redevelopment work done to date since it marks a financial commitment to the project and will allow construction to begin shortly after Easter.
In addition, Vision421 introduced a new “working group” that has been formed to provide information to the congregation about the 61 residential suites that are being designed for Stage 2 of the redevelopment. Their aim is to build excitement and identify folk within and outside our congregation who are interested in possible purchase of suites.
One More Milestone Reached, Sept. 2, 2011
Vision 421 has received approval from the City of Kamloops for the Development Permit of the redevelopment of Phase I (the Sanctuary side) in the last week of August. The updated design for the lower and main levels of Phase I submitted to the city, have been posted on the bulletin board just by the Fellowship Hall. Further to the last post in Aug, Phase II (the housing component) has yet to be reviewed by the City Engineering Department. The department may still require further information but once this has been provided the Development Permit will be sent to City Council for approval. Once approved, the rezoning will go for public consultation.
No further word has been heard from BC Housing regarding our application for interim financing. We remain hopeful and Vision 421 is appreciative of everyone’s patience and support.
Update on Redevelopment, Aug 1, 2011
Vision 421 is waiting for the City of Kamloops to approve the Development Permit Application. Once approved, the application then goes on to a public meeting regarding the rezoning for the housing component. This process did not occur in July as hoped but is currently slated for August. Provided there is no public opposition to the rezoning request, and with the understanding that the City may require still further changes, we anticipate receiving the Development Permit in September.
Concurrently, we have been pursuing financing for the total project (both Phase I and II) through BC Housing and conventional lending institutions. This has been a slow process, but we are optimistic that we can secure the financing this fall, which will allow construction to begin in early 2012.
Given both of these time-frames, we anticipate that Services will continue in the Sanctuary and the office will remain in its current location until the New Year.
We appreciate the support shown to us and the patience demonstrated by everyone in the congregation as we work to bring this project to “life”. As we have stated before, if anyone has any questions or wishes clarification on what is happening, please contact any of the Directors of Vision 421.
Construction Update May 2011
To date, a property survey, a geotechnical assessment, and a hazardous materials assessment were completed. Each of these provided critical information necessary for the City’s Planning Department to consider granting us a Development Permit (DP) to carry out our planned reconstruction. The results show no major reason for not going ahead with our plans and we are optimistic that we will obtain our DP in July.
Our architects gave some positive credit to the KUC team who spearheaded the Sanctuary development many years ago. They found that the as-built drawings quite accurately reflect what had actually been built! This is apparently a rather rare occurrence, and one which has helped make their redesigning job much easier.
The congregation provided direction to Phase I at the May 29 Congregational meeting to allow the architect to develop more detailed floor plans of the main and lower levels. These updated floor plans were submitted to the city planning department as part of the DP process. We will post the revised plans for the congregation to view as soon as they are available.