As we continue with our Gather Grow Go campaign and expansion plans, we will update everyone by posting items here. If you have any questions or comments, you can email Cindy Parks, Building Team Chairperson, any member of our Administrative Council, or our Capital Campaign chairpersons: Mary Anne Vanderburg, Harold Rogerson, or Don Click. Click here for a complete list of Administrative Council members.
Construction Update -December 4, 2011: We are making great progress! Please use the Main entrance at Homestead Road intersection to ENTER the property. There is only one lane and it is for ENTRY ONLY. Please use the Southern Driveway near the Hut (log cabin) to EXIT the property. Make a RIGHT ONLY EXIT onto MLK Blvd. so we don't end up with a traffic jam. NO LEFT TURN EXIT. People may park in existing spaces or in the newly created parking areas on the gravel. Pay attention to our Safety Patrol volunteers as they may need you to stop and wait while directing incoming/outgoing traffic. Thanks!
Construction Update - Starts Tuesday Morning, Nov. 22, 2011: Weekday Use: The Main Entrance at Homestead/MLK Blvd. intersection will be closed until further notice. Please use the Southern driveway as both an entrance and an exit. Please make a RIGHT ONLY onto MLK Blvd. when you exit the property -- even if it means you have to alter your route home (or have to make a U-turn after the Homestead Rd. intersection) -- so that we can get cars off the property more safely and efficiently. Please plan to park as close to the Sanctuary and the Hut as possible on weekdays while work near the main entrance is being conducted. Construction workers will be using the gravel parking lot in front of the playground for employee parking until paving is completed on the newly created parking areas. Thank you for your continued patience and cooperation as we complete this important piece of the project. There will be times when we can open a travel lane at the main entrance for our evening and Sunday use, but this is likely to be off and on for a while.
Construction Update for October 25, 2011: We anticipate that the southern entrance will be closed on or before the week of Nov. 1. Please do not park in the area of the Hut when the southern entrance is closed. The temporary gravel parking pad near the playground will remain in place until the end of construction. The main entrance will stay open until work at the southern entrance is complete to the point that we can use it as our access driveway to our new parking lots. There will be a few weeks where we will have new parking lots open but our main entrance will be closed. During that time, we will have to use the southern entrance to enter and exit. We anticipate that the new parking lots will be paved the week of Nov. 9. We anticipate most of the site work will be completed before Thanksgiving, but we believe we will have some work to do after Thanksgiving. All scheduling issues are weather related. Please keep in mind that sidewalks are poured last. We appreciate your patience and dedication to OUMC! Get ready to celebrate!
Construction Update for Sept. 25, 2011: Parking offsite continues to work well on Sunday mornings. It has even added to the fellowship of OUMC members and visitors as they walk to and from worship together. Recently, a section of parking lot was reopened next to the Fellowship Hall after gravel was added to it, giving us 24 additional onsite spaces. These spaces will remain available to everyone through Harvest Festival on October 22. Erosion control measures have proven extremely effective. Virtually no silt from our construction project has left the site – even during Hurricane Irene. We are so thankful that the efforts to limit construction impact on Booker Creek and Lake Ellen are working. Pole lights will be installed with the newly created parking lots, but our lighting system will be energy efficient and dark sky friendly! The lamp type we have specified will use 25% less energy with no sacrifice in light output. Night light controls will allow us to turn off all but essential security lighting during overnight hours when the facilities are not in use. Trees – more than 400 trees and shrubs will be planted when work is completed this fall. October Glory Maples, Red Oak, White Oak and Tuscarora Crape Myrtles are just a few of the many tree varieties in our landscape plan. A shading plan is part of our effort to diminish “heat island” impacts of our new parking lots.
Construction Update for July 31, 2011: Cooperation has been great, even with the heat. Thanks to those who have parked off-site! We will be running a shuttle with the 2 OUMC vans from the UNC/Homestead lot for the 9AM and 11AM services. If there is not a van in the lot when you arrive, one will arrive within a few minutes. After the service vans will be waiting to return you to any of the off-site lots. There will always be an air-conditioned ride available! If you choose to walk, there will be a parking host to assist you at the crosswalk. This week we will lose the ball field for the duration of construction. Even with the light attendance in summer, the on-site lot has been full at the 9AM service. We have had open space at the 11AM service, so those coming for the 11 can check the on-site lot for space before parking remotely. A reminder: please be especially attentive driving in the on-site lot. Parking hosts may be stopping you or the car in front of you to direct you to available parking. Thou shall drive slowly entering the parking lot, lest thou rear-end thy neighbor! Vans will be dropping off and picking up passengers. Thou shall drive carefully in the parking lot, and shall not run over thy neighbor or thy neighbor’s child! Traffic will pick up considerably later in the summer, so this is a good ‘practice’ period.
Call for Volunteers! We need volunteers to drive vans and serve as parking hosts each Sunday for the 9AM and 11AM services. Volunteers arrive at 8:30 for the 9AM service and 10:45 for the 11AM service. We’ll give you detailed instructions and a lovely yellow vest. Examples of things you can do as a parking host include: directing people to available parking, helping people across the crosswalk, opening the van doors, and monitoring the parking lot. Drivers do not need a CDL. You can sign up to volunteer on the OUMC Parking wikispace by following this link: http://oumcparking.wikispaces.com/ or pasting the url into your browser; you can also contact Margaret McClain at mwmcclain@nc.rr.com, or (919) 619-1423; or you can call the church office.
Construction Update for July 17, 2011: The parking areas, including the ball field and the small parking area next to the Fellowship Hall, are SHUT DOWN!! When remaining paved parking on site is full, you may park across the street at The Station at Homestead and at the Homestead Operations Center lot (old Duke Energy, now UNC). You may also park at Harrington Bank at 1203 MLK Blvd. Please be sure to use the sidewalk all the way to the pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of Homestead Road. Please use and obey the walk signal to safely cross busy MLK Blvd. You will see our yellow-vested parking lot "Safety Patrol" each Sunday when you arrive. They will help direct you to all available parking and provide shuttle transportation if needed. Click here to view and print the parking map & instructions.
Construction Update for June 21, 2011: Site work has begun! Thank you again for your faithfulness to Orange Church and to our Gather Grow Go campaign. This marks the next phase of our ministries here at OUMC, and we are proud and honored that so many people have chosen to be part of this. We can see the future of Orange as it is happening all around us RIGHT NOW! We hope you feel as blessed as we do that we are able to grow Orange Church in the name of Jesus Christ. If you haven't contributed with an initial offering or a 3-year pledge, we welcome you to Gather Grow Go with us! No offering is too small, and any and all 3-year pledge amounts are welcome! Just think how much more we could do by adding together a bunch of new pledges. Maybe new buildings??? AMEN!!
We do ask that you please pardon our mess. Work has started in the rear of the property with tree removal and excavation for a new parking lot and storm trap detention system. The playground is getting a facelift this summer as well. That work is courtesy of Orange Preschool. The playground will be off limits for much of the summer. We will keep you posted on parking conditions as construction progresses. Most likely, we will have reduced onsite parking starting at the end of July through early September. We have already formed a committee to assess summer parking needs. Please know that during construction, we still welcome everyone with open arms and warm hearts! You may see some dust flying and experience some parking challenges, but it is all temporary as we prepare to welcome even more people to worship at Orange. Just remember, by the end of October 2011, our campus will be new and improved as our Phase One construction will be complete. We invite you to continue to experience worship - and growth - with us this summer.
Construction Update for June 1, 2011: Note About Trees and Site Construction: We are completely preserving 6 of the 7 groves of hardwoods on the property. At the 7th grove, which is directly behind the existing church structures, we are removing the trees for parking (127 spaces and driveway) and storm system improvements. Overall, Orange UMC is preserving substantial stands of hardwoods throughout the site, and is preserving almost the entire mature pine forest along the eastern and southern boundaries. Our landscape improvement plan calls for a larger diversity of canopy trees, including 3 native species of oaks. More than 400 trees and shrubs will be added to the site at completion of construction. Tree demolition area is also the area where we lost the most trees in hurricane Fran in 1996. If you walk back there, you'll see it's the area where we have the most downed trees on the property now. If you DO walk back there now, please be prepared for ticks and poison ivy!
Please click on Title to view image
Parking Map & Parking Instructions
Commitment Card for three-year Gather Grow Go pledge
Commitment Card letter from Senior Pastor
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Desserts with the Pastors
Affirmation Sunday Prayer Booklet
Sitework Summary - Includes parking, sidewalks, and proposed buildings
Hut Expansion Architectural Drawings & Schematics
Giving Exercise Card
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Expanded
Gather Grow Go Visioning Information brochure
Affirmation Card
Gather Grow Go FAQ Handout from Leadership Summit
Gather Grow Go FAQ Cover Letter
Master Plan for entire proposed construction plan
Detailed Site Plan
Plan for Hut Expansion
Building Plan Timeline
Project Fact Sheet
Rezoning Request
Statement of Justification
Building History of OUMC
