Home Run

Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian Building Committee member John Pol visits the site of the church’s planned building just about every day. Although site work began May 21, so far that work has consisted mostly of bringing materials to the location. But, soon, there could be more to see on the 6400 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive. Next week, footers of the building will likely be laid out, and excavation of the site will begin, which marks the start of construction of the planned 17,400-square-foot building.

That’s not the only good news the church has received recently when it comes to the project. In early May, the church set up a mortgage trust to ask members to finance the building. The church sought buyers for 100 five-year notes, each for $25,000, to be secured by the mortgage on the new church. The notes pay 4% quarterly interest and allow the church to get a lower interest rate than it would have gotten from a bank.

Within four days, all notes had been purchased, surprising even the attorneys who handled documentation for the project.

“It’s good news for the church,” said Building Committee member John Dixon. “The people were very willing to support the church. It’s good evidence for the strength of conviction that people have in the church.”

The sanctuary will be built on a 1.9-acre parcel of land on the corner of Gulf of Mexico Drive and General Harris Street, which the church bought in March 2008. The Longboat Key Town Commission approved the $3.5 million sanctuary project in January, and the firm of DooleyMack Constructors is the contractor for the project. Pol is staying in town this summer to work with the architect and project manager on details. But he is looking forward to the day that the church has its new home.

“We look forward to, a year from now, being open,” he said.