They took a leap of faith at Ladner United Church and it's paid off in a big way.
Such leaps aren't necessarily out of the ordinary for houses of worship, but the relationship between the church and a local developer on a major renovation project is as heartwarming as it is unique.
With a grand opening set for later this month, I took a tour of the renovated church earlier this week courtesy of Rev. Jim Short and project manager Steve Knoblauch, president of Ram Construction.
What Knoblauch and the entire team have done to transform an 1893 building, one that had been added to multiple times over the years, is truly impressive. They have preserved and enhanced the heritage characteristics while at the same time merging them with new millennium needs and technology. It's most definitely a facility for the entire community, complete with a hall and three multi-purpose rooms available to a variety of groups.
But there's more to this story than just the finished product. The congregation's desire to renovate the building, which originally opened as St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church before becoming Ladner United in 1925, dates back a decade or so, but it wasn't until Knoblauch entered the picture more recently it all began to come together.
With property behind, the church had an asset to leverage in terms of its renovation goals, but discussions with several developers didn't go anywhere because they tended to be more interested in the land than the future of the building.
Knoblauch was different, so much so that Short calls him "our biggest benefactor." Not only did he put the well being of the historic building first, preserving and enhancing portions of it that might well have been torn down, but he entered into a rather unusual agreement.
He will eventually construct 15 townhouses on the land out back, but unlike other developers that wanted to build first, Knoblauch hasn't seen a nickel in return yet.
Mind you, he's the same guy who bought the property at the corner of 47A Avenue and Delta Street, the site of the old Ladner Baptist Church building, a couple of years ago. Without any heritage protection, he could have knocked it down and put up nine townhouses, but took the less profitable route by preserving the historic structure and will build just three row houses.
That same community-first approach has been taken at Ladner United and it's paying off handsomely for everyone concerned.
