Courier View Pikes Peak
PIKES PEAK 2.20.13
Teller County, Colorado • Volume 52, Issue 8
This is the scene from the end of Vista Lane in the West Wood Lakes subdivision as steel starts to go vertical during the first phase of the Andrew Wommack Ministries Inc. Charis Bible College in Woodland Park. Phase one, a 90,000-square-foot building called The Barn, should be completed by the end of 2013.
February 20, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourtellercountynews.com
A 11,000-square-foot addition to the Woodland Park Church of the Nazarene begins to take shape as steel girders form its structure. Construction will continue as donations come in. Photos by Norma Engelberg
Charis, WP Nazarene church go vertical Steel going up on new construction By Norma Engelberg
nengelberg@ourcoloradonews.com Andrew Wommack Ministries, Inc. started construction of the Woodland Park Charis Bible College last September. Since then grading has been completed for both phases of the project, the 90,000-square-foot building Andrew Wommack calls “The Barn” and the 130,000-square-foot building to follow. Crews have also brought in water and electrical utilities for both phases and have finished most of the roads. The Barn’s foundations have been laid, some of its walls and the chimney are up, main floor steel is in and steel for the second level is going vertical. Wommack himself has been following the project with a series of construction-site videos available at www. awmi.net. When phase one is complete, it will have
used 300 yards of concrete and both phases will use a total of 300 tons or 2.5 miles of steel. Exterior walls are precast off site and brought in for assembly. The Barn will have 23 classrooms and a 900-seat auditorium on its lower level and a 1,500-seat auditorium on its second level. It is on schedule for completion in late November, Wommack said. Phase two will have administrative offices, a call center and a 2,500-seat auditorium. The project had a projected cost of $47 million but that estimate has been upped to $53 million. “We’re planning the project to be debtfree,” Wommack said. “We’ll need $32.3 million to complete The Barn and we’re only $7.1 million away. … That sounds costly but these buildings are not extravagant. They’re tools for a ministry that will literally impact the world.”
Woodland Park Church of the Nazarene
On a far smaller scale, the Woodland Park Church of the Nazarene is also going vertical with steel on its construction project.
“We’re outgrowing our church,” said Pastor Brian Troxell. “The new building will be tied into the old and will add 11,000 square feet of space.” The congregation of about 160 members has raised about $400,000 over the past three years and construction is completed as funding is available. “The money is coming 100 percent from our congregation of about 160 members,” Troxell said. “The new building is valued at about $1.1 million but because of volunteers and in-kind donations of equipment, time and supplies we’ll be able to build it for about $700,000.” The existing building has a 2,000-squarefoot basement and a 2,000-square-foot main floor. Besides nearly tripling the square footage, the new building will add a 500 seat auditorium, three offices and a coffee bar/café. When construction is completed, the church will also have a new driveway. “We’ve been planning this for four years and our people are giving above and beyond their normal offerings,” Troxell said. “God is helping us do this.”
Dettenrieder and Steen go the limit By Pat Hill
phill@ourcoloradonews.com Talk about Type A personalities. After only a few weeks in office, Teller County commissioners Marc Dettenrieder and Norm Steen have been omnipresent, collecting strategic statistics or keeping an eye on bills proposed at the state legislature, as they relate to Teller County. In a report at the commissioners’ meeting Feb. 14, Dettenrieder highlighted the severity of the drought, particularly in Teller County where conditions are rated “extreme” by the state’s agriculture and wildlife POSTAL ADDRESS
committee. To that end, Carol Ekarius, executive director of the Coalition for the Upper South Platte, is a member of the Task Force on Wildfire Insurance and Forest Health, Steen said. The task force is charged with examining how best to protect property and people within and adjacent to the wildland-urban interface, issues that are critical to the state’s economic health. Other statistics gathered by Dettenrieder are that volunteers on the Sheriff’s Posse donated 5,100 hours last year. For his part, Steen has been appointed to the state’s Health and Human Services steering committee where he will be an advocate for children and families. Among the Printed on recycled bills Steen is watching that are of interest to newsprint. Please recycle this copy. the people of Teller County are those related to gun control. Steen, too, has picked up the advocacy of former commissioner Jim Ignatius on the issue of forest health. In the meantime, the assessor’s office is racing ahead with technological updates in appraising property. In a report to the com-
Woodland Park Church of the Nazarene Pastor Brian Troxell holds up a drawing of what the new part of the church will look like upon completion. Steel started going up and construction will continue as donations come in. Violet Watt, center, paid tribute to the people and the nonprofit organizations in Teller County, while accepting her employee service award for five years with the assessor’s office. Watt received her award at the commissioners’ meeting Feb. 14. Pictured with Watt are her boss, Betty Clark-Wine and commission chair Dave Paul. Photo by Pat Hill missioners, Betty Clark-Wine highlighted the changes, including the staff’s ability to identify common characteristics and attributes of all property in Teller County. “We participated in field training for new construction, mapping and GIS tools while doing joint training with the building department on the permit system,” ClarkWine said. “The training helps in underCommissioners continues on Page 3