An open house is being held for the community Sunday to showcase the end results of a renovation and new construction project that began last year for Cape Coral First United Methodist Church.
The church put a vision plan together approximately two years ago to compensate the growth of its children’s ministry, along with the high school and junior high group as well.
“The youth had outgrown the space,” Cape Coral First United Methodist Church Senior Pastor Jay Therrill said.
Cape Coral First United Methodist Church designed, held fund-raisers and applied for all the permits it needed over nine months.
Troy Hernly, director of construction for Stevens Construction, said the company began the project in November with some pretty extensive demolition to clear out the existing spaces that were located on the campus.
“Everything was pretty much gutted to the bare concrete floors,” he said, so the workers could start from scratch.
In addition to the demolition, Hernly said they also included a couple additions that were tied into existing buildings. The two new sections were 1,800 square feet and 725 square feet.
Therrill said the renovation of the western half of the campus went extraordinarily well.
One of the renovations that was incorporated in the plan included the old gymnasium being transformed into a brand new building that now houses the Foundation’s Early Learning Center.
Once the correct licenses are obtained, the center will offer preschool primary and full-time child care, along with VPK in the fall. Once the full-time childcare opens its operating hours will be from 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Mary Richardson, director of the Foundations Early Learning Center, said they are in the process of obtaining the license, so they can serve children who are 3 months old to 8 year olds. She said they are hoping to have the license in June so they can provide services for 100 to 110 kids.
Richardson said since they do not need a license to offer a summer camp for 5-8 year olds, the church decided to host one this summer from June 13 through Aug. 5.
“Each week has a theme with activities planned around it,” she said. “There is a different theme for each week.”
Those who are interested can sign up for either one or two weeks or for the entire summer camp. The camp will be held five days a week from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. for $100 a week. The hours can be extended to fit the parents schedule if needed.
“If we get our license before then, we will start to take the younger child care kids as well,” Richardson said.
For more information or to register for the camp, email Richardson at mrichardson@capecoralfirst.org.
A new children’s ministry center, along with the renovation of the adult classrooms were also included in the project. Therrill said one of the nice things about the project is now the buildings consist of state-of-the-art equipment, like flat panel televisions and wireless connections.
He said they constructed a beautiful state-of-the-art center because people who come to know Jesus when they are 17 years old or younger remain connected.
The project also included new playgrounds for the children. Hernly said they added a new small playground in the middle of the courtyard, along with a larger one on the outside of the campus that incorporated some new age stuff.
“The project went great,” Hernly said, because the folks at Cape Coral First United Methodist Church were great to work with. “One of the things that kept the project on track was having good owners that followed the project and made decisions along the way.”
A ribbon-cutting and ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on May 15.
Therrill said Mayor John Sullivan and Councilmembers Marty McClain and Kevin McGrail will attend the event Sunday to share a few comments.
He said they are holding the open house to allow people to walk through the building and see it all furnished.
“We hope for people to join us,” Therrill said. “We look forward to welcoming folks and helping young children and youth know who Jesus is and finding a purpose in their lives.”
Cape Coral First United Methodist Church is located at 4118 Coronado Parkway. For information, call 239-542-4051.