Grace International Discusses Renovations

The Grace International Assembly of God on Willis Avenue in Mineola is panning on making a significant expansion to its building to keep up with what it says is a large uptick in its congregation.

Located at 172 Willis Ave., plans call for the demolition of the existing eastern portion of the existing eastern side of the church and construction of a 4,760 sq. ft. expansion according to Robert J. Roble of Rockville Centre-based RJW Architecture during a meeting of the Mineola Village Board on May 8 at the village hall.

The church was originally built in 1899 with an extension added about six years ago. Plans call for that expansion to be demolished and increasing the area of the church itself.

“Not by much,” Roble said, “just enough to afford the church the opportunity to provide better accessibility or total facilities or a little bit more of parishioner use.” Roble said that the congregation would be increasing by about 120 people to 220.

“The congregation is growing and the needs are growing,” Pastor Wilson Jose said. “We have only two bathrooms there for men and women and we need more bathrooms.”

The existing portion to be removed is 648 sq. ft. while the new addition is a total of 9,322 sq. ft. consisting of two floors, including a cellar. The lot coverage would also increase 1,500 sq. ft.

According to Roble, construction is anticipated to begin in the fall, though it may be delayed due to the bureaucratic process at the various governmental levels. While the new sanctuary is being built Jose said they are looking for a temporary location nearby until construction is complete.

“The way the plan works out is that we can block off the area between the area for demolition... put up a temporary wall and they can still use the original church,” Roble said. “Then once we get the building constructed, then we can do the little interior work within the original church.”

Roble stated that construction bids for the project would be coming in over the next two weeks. They are anticipating a $800-1 million cost for the project.

The church currently has two toilet rooms of two fixtures each. The new facility would allow handicapped accessibility on the first floor and another restroom in the cellar. Roble noted that an elevator would be provided for handicapped accessibility to the basement and ramps to the main floor.

The cellar would also house additional classrooms for sunday school. The church currently has one classroom. Classrooms would only be used on Sundays. “The cellar will be providing six classrooms,” Roble said.

While the church currently has no plans for summer camps, Jose said they plan to have vacation bible schools during the summer months in the future “and it will be just a week of activities.”

A kitchen would also be located in the basement to cook full meals. Jose said that the kitchen would be used “six times in the whole year.”

The plans had not yet been approved by fire marshall, but trustee Paul Cusato stated that he had an issue with there being classrooms in the basement and the kitchen being located next to the exit.

Roble said that the areas were separated with “fire separations” according to the state building code and that “anything the fire marshal wants, I will give them.

On the main floor there would also be a nursery area for young children during services. The second floor of the church would have an audio/visual room for the main stage of the church while other areas would be used for storage.

The parking lot will also be reconfigured by access points and curb cuts will not be changed.

Roble stated that while Willis Avenue is a county road, they could come out onto Searing Avenue but acknowledged it being a heavy residential area.

“I believe the entrance into the parking area is adequate as it is now,” he said.

“If you do look to have an entrance or an exit coming out onto Searing Avenue, that might be an issue for us,” mayor Scott Strauss said, “that street’s very, very crowded as it is and we’re not sure yet what’s happening with Corpus Christi School.”

Roble added that they would take care of the paint around the trim and the jungle gym would also be removed.

Cusato also noted the final four spots along fence line, pointing out concrete curves. Roble said that the chainlink fence along fence line said for “backup. We set it back so they have enough room to backup otherwise they’re backing up into a fence.”

The space would also not be leased out to other churches and there would be no “for-profit” business on the premises.

The case was labeled with a SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) resolution along with a negative declaration and a referral to the Nassau County Planning Commission. The Nassau County Planning Commission will make a judgment on the case within the next thirty days which will then come back to the Mineola Village Board.

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