Christ the King to expand
by Nicole Foulke, Special Writer
Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kendall Park got the thumbs up last week to build a 2,097-square-foot addition.
The zoning board approved a site-plan waiver by a vote of 7 to 0 Nov. 1 that will pave way for a two-part project, the first of which calls for moving the church’s entrance from the side of the existing building to the front and adding an addition to the front.
The church is located on Route 27, and its 4.15-acre lot sits in an R-3 residential zone.
The addition will allow the building to become handicapped accessible and includes three offices, a larger lobby and a “crying” room where parents with young children can go during church services. An existing office will be renovated into a handicapped bathroom.
The entranceway addition also will serve as a general gathering area and classroom space.
The church plans to hire a contractor in early December and estimates that the six-month-long $800,000 construction project will begin in January.
The church has hopes that Phase 2, which has not yet received approval, will allow it to build a new worshiping space that will hold a congregation of 170, almost twice as much as their current capacity of 100. Phase 2 also includes a new parking lot.
The Rev. Fred Schott described Phase 2 as a “much more expansive, ambitious program,” and is still waiting for the state Department of Environmental Protection to approve plans for dealing with water runoff from the parking lot before it flows into a nearby stream.
The Rev. Schott is cautiously optimistic about the completion of Phase 1 in June, and said he anticipates Phase 2 will obtain the needed approval in several months.
”We’ve done a lot of planning to get to this point, but even if it gets turned down, then this (Phase 1) is still an improvement.”