pcnelson.com

Second Pres. Files Permit For Expansion

Second Presbyterian Church has filed a $15.8 million permit application with the city-county Department of Construction Code Enforcement for a 73,000-square-foot expansion to the church and Presbyterian Day School, which operates on Second’s campus at 4052 Central Ave.

The two-year project will bring 42,000 square feet of additional space for the school, 23,000 square feet of additional space for the church and 8,000 square feet of additional shared space, said Harold Ware, executive administrator for the church.

“The school’s going to have a new signature entrance and it’s going to have more visibility off Poplar, so a lot of this is for the school,” Ware said. “The church is kind of tagging along, doing some things we’d like to do while the construction is going on.”

Plans call for a new early childhood center for PDS and the renovation of existing school buildings. The expansion will bring a new gymnasium, “lifestyles” room, music room and dining hall to the school, and PDS’ library will be renovated.

The project wasn’t designed to accommodate more students at the school, whose enrollment is about 620. Instead, Ware said, the goal is to update its aging infrastructure.

“We started PDS in 1952,” Ware said. “It really hadn’t had a major renovation since these buildings were built. This is the first time we’ve had an extensive renovation of the school.”

Also included in the construction is a recreation field on the west end of the campus and a few new parking spaces. Ware said traffic flow through the campus also will be improved.

Site work has begun on the project, with completion slated for fall of 2010. The Crump Firm Inc. is architect for the project, and Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc. is the contractor.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports