The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
First Lutheran Church nearing completion
Replacement to open by end of 2017
After much prayer, planning and paperwork, the new First Lutheran Church is under construction.
Lorain’s newest building soon will be ready for worship and praise.
The former First Lutheran Church building at 603 Washington Ave., a historic house of worship in central Lorain, burned on Aug. 28, 2014. The remaining structure later was demolished.
After much prayer, planning and paperwork, the new First Lutheran Church is under construction at 1019 W. Fifth St.
“We are expected to move into the office space in the middle of next month,” said the Rev. Rosalina Rivera, who started this year as the successor to Rev Jimmy Madsen, pastor there since 1979.
In the summer, church leaders and construction staff led tours for members of the congregation. The tours will stop this fall as crews put in their finishing touches.
On Sept. 26, Rivera guided a walk-through with Marcus St. Clair, project superintendent with Thomas & Marker Construction of Bellefontaine, the company overseeing construction.
“Oh, that’s new,” Rivera said as she entered the hallway from the north side of the building.
Along the north side will be offices for the Lorain Cooperative Ministry, a joint program of nine Lorain-area churches to fight hunger and provide help for those in need.
A multipurpose room will be the main space for the church’s food pantry program. Closet space is being built with racks for food and the church has a full-service kitchen and brand new walk-in freezer for storage.
“It’s pretty huge — they’re very excited,” Rivera said. “My pantry people are very excited.”
There will be nursery rooms with windows and a youth room wired for electronics and gaming.
There’s a stairway, but it’s not a choir loft. It leads up to the mechanical rooms for the heating and air conditioning for the buildings.
“As opposed to the original building, everything is on one level,” Rivera said.
The roof of the building has a cupola with a southfacing window to let in natural light for the main entrance hall.
The south side will have a patio with memorial bricks around a gas fire pit for use in the Easter vigil service, with a fireside room next to it.
The sanctuary will have the baptismal font at floor level. Above, there is an extensive grid of pipes for fire suppression.
“Everything in here was designed for acoustics,” St. Clair said.
There will be insulation
and some of the drywall will get an actual plaster finish. The bricks are set in an undulating pattern that is visible when the walls are viewed from an angle.
The church will continue its FIRST-music concert series, returning to its own space for the 201718 season. Music Director Brian Wentzel already has booked “some phenomenal talent,” Rivera said.
Outside, the building will have 56 parking spaces total, with on-street parking and more space available on the church’s old lot. The east side of the property will get additional privacy fencing, Rivera said.
The building’s concrete slab was poured May 15, “so basically in four months’ time, all this has happened,” St. Clair said.
Thomas & Marker Construction is managing the project. Local contractors on the job include Icon Interiors of Cleveland, Sattelight Electric Inc. of Vermilion, Bay Mechanical & Electrical Corp. of Lorain, Schill Grounds Management of North Ridgeville, Esser Plumbing of Elyria and Herk Excavating of Vermilion.
The job site has up to 40 workers present most days as construction has ramped up in the last few months, he said.
“And I appreciate that,” Rivera said.
“It’s been a lot of work,” St. Clair said. “Icon and these guys have just been great to work with.”