Church, state no longer separated

By Steve Lawson

Published: November 11, 2008

Like any birth, Sunday’s new beginning for a Madison church was not without pain and labor.

“We’ve been through a long, difficult process to get to this point, but we’re not really at the end now – this is just the starting point,” said Paul Hooker, pastor of New Vision Fellowship.

Hooker and the New Vision congregation gathered atop a hillside at U.S. 311 and Lindsey Bridge Road on Sunday afternoon to break ground for the church’s new 11,000-square-foot building. A cold wind swept across the hilltop, but there was warmth generated by the fulfillment of a longstanding hope among those attending.

Like a birth, there was excitement at the beginning of the story, as well as the end. For New Vision, the story began with the purchase of the 21-acre tract along U.S. 311 more than seven years ago. The church, under the leadership of its first senior pastor, Scott Courtney, bought the land in April 2001. The vision then, as now, was to develop the property into a church campus with a worship center, educational and recreational facilities, and possibly a Christian school for kindergarten through twelfth grade.

“The difference now is that several acres of that original purchase has been rendered useless for development,” Hooker said.

New Vision first considered construction as early as 2003. Hooker said construction costs – now about $700,000 for this first project – would have been considerably less at that time. But there would have been unexpected future problems if the buildings had gone up then.

In the fall of 2004, the state Department of Transportation recommended the replacement of the bridges over Big Beaver Island Creek and Little Beaver Island Creek – on U.S. 311 east and west of the intersection with Island Drive. At the same time, DOT recommended the relocation of Lindsey Bridge Road from its current location near the westernmost bridge.

“When the state first began talking about relocating Lindsey Bridge Road, one of the plans called for it to go almost through the middle of our property,” Hooker said. “We feel better about the current route along the western edge, but it still reduces the usable size of our property by more than 4 acres.”

The relocation moves the Lindsey Bridge intersection westward about 1,000 feet from the current location,cutting about 2.7 acres off the western edge of New Vision’s property. The DOT project to replace the two bridges also calls for that section of U.S. 311 to be widened to at least three lanes. That portion of the project takes about 1.5 acres of church’s road frontage.

“We’re just glad that plans are finally to the stage where we can begin construction on our building,” Hooker said. “It’s not what we originally envisioned, but we’re thankful we still have a sizable parcel to grow into in the future.”

The church’s first 11,000-square-foot structure includes a worship facility as its center, the right and left wings will be educational and office facilities, and the rear will be used for the fellowship hall and kitchen area. Hooker said the current plans call for completion of the worship center and right wing, about 7,000 square feet, and drying-in the remainder to finish at a later date.

“We know we’ll never be able to build the main structure for what we can at this time,” Hooker said. “So we’ll just leave those wings open areas for now, until we can afford to finish them out as we grow into the building.”

Work on preparing the foundation for the new building is expected to begin within the next week. Hooker said the congregation hopes to move from its current location in the Rockingham Square Shopping Center by next spring.

“We’ve waited a long time and been through a lot of other locations over the years, and we’re really anxious to be in our permanent home,” he said.

Work on replacing the two bridges and relocating Lindsey Bridge is also expected to begin this month. Mike Mills, DOT division of highways engineer for Division 7, said plans and money for the work are in place, but there are still some utilities that need to be moved. All of the gas, power and phone lines have to be moved out of the right of way before construction begins on widening the road and replacing the bridges.

Mills said a lot of time, energy and planning had gone into the project since 2004.

“This actually began as just a bridge replacement project,” Mills said. “The relocation of Lindsey Bridge got added because of the current location’s proximity to one of the bridges.”

That addition was one of the factors delaying the project several years to find additional funding.

Work on the Beaver Island Creek bridges is expected to begin some time this month and is scheduled for completion by December 2010. The cost of the project is estimated at $5.1 million.

“The project was ready to go when funding for the relocation of Lindsey Bridge came through,” Mills said.

He said DOT was fortunate to be able to secure the funding necessary to proceed with the project during tough economic times.

“This is something that has been on the books for completion for several years and it’s important that the work continue on schedule,” he said.

Although the two bridges are safe and functional, both were built in 1940 and are cannot be rehabilitated.

“They’re both nearing the end of their useful life,” Hooker said.

The state’s sufficiency ratings for the bridges are both below 50, compared to a rating of 100 for a new structure. The Little Beaver Island Creek Bridge is listed as functionally obsolete, while the Big Beaver Island Bridge has been rated as structurally deficient.

“Neither bridge is a hazard, but both need to be replaced with a wider, safer structure,” Mills said. “We’ve waited a long time for the funding to be in place to do this and it’s time to move ahead.”

Mills does not expect the construction to interfere with traffic along U.S. 311. The new lanes of the bridges will be built on the northern side of the current bridges, while the old bridges remain open. When the new lanes are completed and opened, the old bridges will be closed, demolished and replaced.

“The only traffic problems should come when it’s time to tie in the new lanes with the new bridge,” Mills said. “Other than that, the inconvenience should be minimal.”

When the construction is completed, U.S. 311 will also have two new traffic signals – at the T-intersection with Island Drive and the new T-intersection with Lindsey Bridge Road about 1,000 feet west of the current location.

“The addition of the traffic signals, wider roads and new turn lanes should greatly improve traffic on that section of the highway,” Mills said. “That was one of our goal all along and it’s nice to see it coming to pass.”

Hooker and the congregation of New Vision Fellowship share Mills’ joy over the project.

“We feel sort of like a beacon on the hilltop up here and we’re anxious to get our lighthouse built,” he said.

News Editor Steve Lawson can be reached at or at 548-6047.