New Home Project Archives
We have chosen to keep these files accessible online not only for current and future members and friends, but also for the benefit of UUs and others who are considering a building project of their own. We are grateful to all the UU churches and fellowships that shared their planning processes with us.
UUFCO occupied various spaces since its founding in 1958, including private homes, and briefly our own building. Over the years, we leased space from the Bend Community Center, the Environmental Center, and finally the Old Stone Church. We pursued several possibilities of buildings that we might buy. In late 2011, an anonymous family offered a very generous lead gift that allowed us to envision building our own space and the congregation launched the New Home Project (NHP). We completed a successful capital campaign and broke ground for building our new home in September 2013.
Corey Martin, architect
The process was inclusive of the whole congregation in workshops, workgroups, or committees. The workgroups were small task-oriented groups of people who were especially interested in a specific area of our Fellowship and New Home. People who were not members of a workgroup were welcome to submit their ideas via online forums or on paper in suggestion boxes. Each workgroup worked closely with the Design Committee and determined the specific needs of an area, how it would be used, and how it would feel. All input was compiled in an overall Design Matrix.
Milestones
Land Blessing (May 27, 2012)—Circle of congregants as Rev. Heather Starr blesses our land.
Groundbreaking (September 13, 2013)—A photo gallery.
Site Visit & Beam Signing (June 2014)—A photo gallery.
Dedication of Our New Home (April 26, 2015)—Slide show with link to Program for Dedication Service, which includes messages from our ministers, design architect, and others, and lists of all involved in the process: volunteers, donors, partners.
Visioning & Planning Documents
Notes from the New Home Vision Workshop (November 2011), compiled by Aggie Sweeney (24-page PDF, 316 KB)
Notes from the New Home Vision Workshop: Responses to the “UUFCO Today” Question (November 2011), compiled by Aggie Sweeney (2-page PDF, 279 KB)
Criteria & Considerations for New Home Land Search (Land & Site Committee—January 6, 2012) Compares criteria established for the land we wanted to the Skyliners property and examples of other parcels considered. (PDF)
Summary from the Youth Visioning Workshop (February 2012), compiled by Leslie Koc (2-page PDF, 113 KB)
Notes from the Youth Visioning Workshop: Responses to the "UUFCO Today" Question (February 2012), compiled by Leslie Koc (2-page PDF, 71 KB)
Criteria for Making Decisions for Sustainability (Green Group—March 2012) PDF
Sustainability Workshop Summary Report, created by M.L. Vidas (April 2012) (PDF, 1 MB, 40 pages)
New Home Aesthetics Statement (Design Committee with Art Work Group—June 2012)
Summary of Essential Elements (Design Committee—June 2012) PDF
Mass Wall Benefits — A response to questions about efficiency. (Hacker—February 2015) PDF
Planning Matrix for New Spiritual Home (March 20, 2012, edited July 1, 2012 for RFP for architects)—a 45-page document consolidating input from a wide range of workgroups and all-congregation visioning and sustainability workshops. PDF
Play Area Concept (April 1, 2014)—Vision for play area. Used for application for Pacific Northwest District Chalice Lighters grant. PDF
A Walkthrough: The Future Home of the Unitarian Universalists of Central Oregon (Design Committee—October 2013) PDF
New home newsletter ARTICLES
NHP Timeline
August/September 2011: Offer of lead gift for land and a new building. Leslie Koc named head of Steering Committee.
October 2011: Steering Committee formed. Land search commences. Visits to other churches, buildings, and UU fellowships begin. Feasibility study.
November 2011: Visioning workshop with Aggie Sweeney. Sub-committees and workgroups began forming.
December 2011: 22-acre parcel identified. (Approved by congregation in February and deeded to UUFCO in May 2012.)
March/April 2012: Programming and feasibility workshop with Soderstrom Architects. Sustainability Workshop with ML Vidas. Financial Feasibility Study.
May 2012: 100% vote of a 90% quorum of the congregation to move ahead. Architect search begins.
May 2012: Land Blessing
September 2012: THA Architecture hired and design workshops and congregational meetings begin.
October 2012: Michael Marino, Owner’s Rep, engaged.
November 2012: Kirby Nagelhout Construction contracted.
April 2013: Capital Campaign exceeds expectations.
September 13, 2013: Groundbreaking
February 1, 2015: First Service
April 26, 2015: Building Dedication
As part of his exploration for how Unitarian Universalism values and principles might inform the geometry of our building, our architect, Corey Martin of Hacker (then THA), did dozens of charcoal sketches. They inspired discussion with the design committee and some are reflected in the form of the building.