Attendance at Berean Baptist Church in Burnsville soared by double digits in both 2014 and 2015, meaning something had to give.
The answer was an expansion that included a 1,110-seat worship center, more classrooms, meeting rooms, storage, a maintenance area, an expanded commons area and an elevator, as well as expanded parking.
While the church, built in the 1960s, wanted to grow to accommodate more worshippers, it also wanted to hang on to some old-fashioned aspects. To that end, contractors renovated Berean’s old sanctuary and connecting spaces in a way that would provide a seamless transition between old and new.
“It was like putting together a puzzle,” said Todd Loeffler, project superintendent for Anderson Cos. “There were 10 different elevations and multiple angles.”
When the church’s old sanctuary was remodeled, the former sloped roof was replaced with a flat roof. To accomplish that, workers used concrete blocks to match the elevation of the flat roof and put blocks every 10 feet at the bottom of the existing foundations so water would drain off. Existing trusses were removed and replaced by 80-foot-long by 4-foot-deep trusses in a single day.
Another challenge was isolating the noise and dust of construction from ongoing day care and preschool programs. To accomplish this, Anderson put up temporary walls and site fencing and used a security ID program.
The newly expanded worship area contains stadium seating, a sloped floor and elevated stage, and even a TV-style green room. Sheetrock fashioned to look like clouds help obscure a catwalk and the church’s audio-visual system.
“You’ve got the sanctuary for more traditional worhsip, and the new worship space acts as more of an auditorium,” Said Paul May, principal with architect Miller Dunwiddie. “We had to connect two buildings of different ages and different construction styles.”
