Hatfield Borough discusses options for rebuilding church destroyed by fire

At Hatfield Borough’s workshop meeting Wednesday night, council was presented with two different options for rebuilding Grace Lutheran Evangelical Church, which was destroyed in a December 2011 fire.

North Wales-based Compliance Management International was represented at the meeting by Jim Major, who explained that after conducting a survey on the property it was determined that there are two options for constructing a new building on the four-anda-half-acre property.

Both plans would involve building upon the old church’s footprint. According to the borough code, the original building could be expanded up to 25 percent in the new design; Michael O’Rourke of GKO Architects, the firm the church is using for the project, said that the church would most likely be taking advantage of the full 25 percent.

The difference in the two building plans comes down to necessary land development and cost. The first plan would require much more land development and would cost anywhere from $750,000 to $800,000, O’Rourke said. The budget for the project is $3,500,000, and the church would prefer to use as much as possible for the actual building rather than spending such a large amount on land development.

The second plan would cost $150,000 to $200,000, O’Rourke said. The only major land development would be a basin to address stormwater concerns. This plan also includes a two-story building rather than the one-story building proposed in the first option.

Neither plan would touch the existing sanctu- ary or parking lot.

In its official proposal, the church will ask for certain waivers from council. The specific waivers have not yet been determined, but will probably be related to things like landscaping and curb regulations.

“We could look favorably upon waiving items such as curbs as long as there’s a reason to waive it,” said borough council Vice President Ken Farrall.

Council members agreed that they did not have enough information to provide a lot of feedback on the project.

“We don’t have a plan that the zoning officer can sink his teeth into,” Borough Solicitor Kate Harper said. Council’s decision depends largely on the zoning officer’s decision.

Another issue was that as part of its land development, the church might be required to construct a new culvert running under Main Street to manage stormwater and prevent flooding.

The culvert requirement would be a “deal breaker,” O’Rourke said. The culvert system could cost anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000, and that would be on top of the other land development costs.

The presentation concluded with council asking for more specific details about the building plans.

Hatfield Borough’s next council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20. The borough building is located at 401 S. Main St.