CHURCH RENOVATION SHINES LIGHT ON LOCAL HIRING
GARY — About the time crews finish demolishing the long-vacant Sheraton Hotel, a downtown eyesore, in November, other crews will put the finishing touches on converting the fellowship hall of an iconic church across town into a home for more ministries.
The $3.2 million Rev. Dr. Robert E. Lowery Ministry Center, at St. Timothy Community Church, on the corner of 25th Avenue and Grant Street, also has put some local carpenters to work, something more black churches can do, according to a local subcontractor working on the project.
Once home to one of the more popular banquet halls in Gary, the center will feature seven classrooms, meeting places, a small auditorium and more space for young people to meet, said St. Timothy Pastor Dr. Alfred Johnson.
“I want to see us be able to offer viable ministry to the youth of the city,” Johnson said. “It’s about those things that could help children grow and develop, not only spiritually but socially, economically, and it’s a place of safety they can come to.”
The church’s trustee board hatched the renovation idea about three years ago and began getting feedback from members. The banquet hall was always a revenue generator, but members said they wanted something more, said Greg Jones, board president.
“When we looked at the demographics, we saw the largest group coming up was the youth,” he said. “We decided we need to address that audience. Who needs it more than the kids coming up?”
Project planners hired a general contractor, Aspen Construction, of Frankfort, Illinois. They said they wanted to include more local subcontractors, but finding qualified, experienced workers in a predominantly black community ignored for decades by trade unions made hiring locally tough, they said.
“From the very beginning, that was my push,” said board member Kimberly Robinson, who also sits on Gary’s Common Council and is the Democratic nominee for Calumet Township trustee. “What are we doing local? How are we asking local workers to be part of this project? How can we go around and ask other contractors on other projects to do it, when it starts at home?”
David Castellanos, owner of 1st American Construction, said he put eight local men, six of them black carpenters from Gary, on his subcontracting work, erecting metal framing and hanging drywall. The St. Timothy project should speak to more churches in the region and throughout the Midwest about finding ways to put local people to work on their building projects, he said.
“The churches do so much construction, but very few go to minority companies,” he said. “I’m trying to bring to light that minority contractors can work alongside white contractors.
“White contractors have been stalwarts in the trades since the beginning, but we’re doing good work on budget and on time. These guys should be able to get work not only in Gary but in Porter and LaPorte counties and everywhere else.”