WCC Renovations

 

Just a stone’s throw from the historic John Wayne birthplace, on the corner of East Washington and South 2^nd Streets, there sits a brick building that looks slightly out of place. An industrial structure flanked on three sides by a residential neighborhood, the old warehouse seems to have lost its way on a trip to town. But behind the building’s plain façade, major changes have taken place in recent years. And community members may be excited to note: there are quite a few more in store.

 

According to the bits of history tucked away in local Bill Gibson’s memory and his research among the older generation in and around Winterset, the warehouse was originally constructed in two phases. The first, during the Depression era by the government agency the Civilian Conservation Corps. This agency employed Madison County workers to build buildings for people who still had money and land, which might explain the unusual location.

 

Though no one seems to recall the building’s initial purpose, locals first remember the Shorty Thomas Trucking Company occupying the north end somewhere in the 1930’s. The building next housed the Drake AC Agricultural Dealership, after which it sat empty for a time before becoming Ed Nelson’s mechanic shop. Around 1945, a Plymouth and Dodge automobile salesman by the name of Mr. Sweeney built the south portion of the building, which currently houses Winterset Community Church. Frederick’s Garage took over the car sales business from the 1950’s through the early 1960’s. As it changed hands over the subsequent years, the building became the auto parts store and garage most folks remember it as.

 

“Ever since I was just a small kid this has been Big A and Meyer Auto—at least for 20 years,” recalls Gibson. Following these businesses, a roofing company used the space for a short time, as did ET Tire while they were constructing their new company home. Bill Brookhart purchased the building in 2004.

 

“The main reason I bought it was to use it as a warehouse for Jackson Medical Supply,” explains Bill, referring to his business. Brookhart renovated a portion of the building to suit his business’s needs, and used the opposite end for storage. The largest section briefly sat empty until WCC decided to renovate it about three years ago.

 

So how does an auto mechanics garage/roofing company/auto parts store become a meeting place for a growing church congregation? Two words: team effort.

 

“The center part where the sanctuary is now used to be the auto garage,” reiterates Brookhart. “When you walked in the place, it literally still smelled like grease.” The walls were simple cinder block with a concrete floor and steel-framed ceilings. Near the rear exit door, hydraulic lifts flanked the area now occupied by the band stage.

 

“I didn’t need the space for anything, so I thought I’d bring it up and see if they would be interested in it,” explains Brookhart of the idea behind WCC meeting in the open area. At the time, the small church group met in Winterset’s elementary school gymnasium, but was quickly outgrowing these accommodations. “It would be really cool for us to be able to put our feet on solid ground, and let the community see we’re a church that will be around for awhile.” Senior Pastor Scott O’Conner and the WCC congregation couldn’t agree more.

 

“Greg Hilsabeck took over the project as the general contractor,” recounts Brookhart of what happened next. “He scheduled everything. Members of the congregation would meet there a couple times a week and Greg would let us know what needed to be done.” While Hilsabeck’s crew worked on the framing and sheetrock, other church members, including those on the building committee, worked on everything from cleanup to electrical wiring. Brian Weaver took care of the systems needed to heat and air condition the building.

 

“There were a lot of long nights and weekends on the part of a lot of people. It was a church-wide effort,” remembers Brookhart.

 

The project, which began shortly after the Brookharts purchased the building, took about six months, and was completed in the fall of 2005. To let folks in the community know just what was going on at the very busy building, this summer John Gambrall built and installed the WCC sign that now adorns the front of the church.

 

Partially a warehouse no more, the brick structure became a pleasant “temporary” home for the Winterset Community Church.

 

Now that you know a bit about the building, how about a peek inside? After all, you’ll want to know what transformations have been made, right? Approaching the building from the front, you’ll walk up a slightly cracked, slanted driveway to reach the double front doors. Inside you’ll find the main meeting area, called the sanctuary. This wide-open, rectangular room is filled with folding chairs, fronted by a stage where the worship team leads music Sunday morning, and bolstered by a large support column right in the center. In the northwest corner, the congregation enjoys a small cafe with a dishwasher, fridge, sink, and, of course, coffee machines. On the opposite side of the sanctuary, a hallway leads to a brightly painted nursery on the left and a Sunday school classroom for youngsters up to kindergarten age on the right. Straight ahead, men’s and women’s bathrooms.

 

Looking around, you’d never know cars used to drive in and out of the church building. The floor is covered with carpeting, the walls are a clean, bright white, and the only steel you’ll see hanging from the ceiling are the supports for the speaker system.

 

As it turned out, Winterset Community Church wasn’t through welcoming new faces and families into the congregation. In the sanctuary, seats were filling quickly, leading Pastor O’Conner to begin a two service format—8:45 and 10:45 a.m. each Sunday. So many children crowded into the Sunday morning classrooms that the youth spilled across the street to the Genesis Development center—even that location didn’t hold them for long. Between 250 and 300 people now attend church each week.

 

Excited about the continued “problem” of outgrowing their space, the church body looked to securing land in or around Winterset with plans to build an adequate structure to house their church family and activities. At about the same time, Bill Brookhart purchased a building north of town that fully suited his business needs; he no longer required the warehouse space.

 

Suddenly, WCC realized they had their ideal location all along—right in the heart of Winterset, in the heart of the community they care about. Earlier this year, the Brookharts sold the building to the church for what they’d put in to it. The congregation also voted to purchase the rental property directly behind the church, keeping the current gentleman tenant and taking over care of his land. A new building committee composed of WCC members commenced interviewing architects to take their official new church home into the future.

 

With two fantastic candidates, the committee decided they couldn’t go wrong and selected the architect responsible for West Des Moines’ Valley Evangelical Free Church, Mr. Dave Laugerman.

 

After months of meetings, Pastor Scott and the committee presented the suggested floor plan to an excited congregation hoping to get their input and ideas. Major changes include: replacing the large central column with two smaller columns to increase visibility and seating, enlarging the café area, creating an office space for the pastors, building classrooms so all the children can meet inside the church, and adding a junior and senior high youth group area that they can make their own. The stage will be pushed out 14 feet to create room for up to 80 additional seats in the auditorium, with plans to replace the folding chairs with more comfortable padded chairs. The hallway leading to the classrooms will be widened to accommodate easier passage, and the bathrooms moved and expanded. The renovated nursery and toddler area will form a cheerful and sunny L-shape along the west side of the building complimented by aesthetic and energy-saving windows that will replace the currently inefficient panes.

 

Perhaps most noticeable to neighbors and passersby, the building’s exterior will get a pleasant facelift—sidewalks will be repaired and smoothed and landscaping will add an aesthetic appeal to the church.

 

“We will be improving the outside look of the church to make it attractive to the community,” explains Pastor O’Conner. “Catty-corner from us is going to be the new John Wayne museum . . . and we want God to look okay in regard to that. We think God’s worth that, and He’s given us this wonderful location.”

 

In addition to the jazzed up windows, the exterior will be effaced with an alternate material leaving an edge of brick peeking out around the base for visual appeal. An overhang above the entry will add architectural interest and provide a welcome shelter from inclement weather.

 

“It really looks sharp, I think,” says Pastor O’Conner enthusiastically of the plan.

 

The church will begin a capital campaign this fall to encourage members to give above and beyond their current church support for the next three years, but with the hands-on attitude of the congregation, members anticipate the renovations will be completed even sooner than that.

 

“I think we’ve got a good deal here,” says Pastor Scott enthusiastically. “God gave us the heart of Winterset, right next to John Wayne.”

(Published in the Winterset Madisonian 11/28/2007)