Presbyterian Church in Columbia, Maryland
Worship Every Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Preschool HVAC

Preschool HVAC
You may have noticed a change to the exterior walls around the first floor of the sanctuary portion of the building. The pipes and cables you see are part of a new HVAC system that was added to four rooms in that portion of the facility—three preschool classrooms and Room 21. This system was an emergency addition in January necessitated by the failure of a number of the heating units in those rooms in the early weeks of the new year—some of which experienced burst pipes that caused minimal water damage as well. The old units were so out of date that it made no sense to repair them.

While the preschool managed to continue classes (after a brief shut down) Property Manager Tito Baca was hard at work exploring options for heating those rooms. After considering numerous options Tito and the Property Committee recommended the system that has been installed to the session and the session approved the unexpected expenditure. The system and the installation of the system cost the church around $35,000.00. The new system, which is a long-term solution to the HVAC situation in that part of the building, has been working very well for the last number of weeks and the preschool and other groups that use those rooms are incredibly grateful. An added bonus is that the new system will also provide air conditioning in the warmer months.

We would like to express our gratitude to Tito, the property committee, preschool director Heather Gallagher and the preschool teachers, and everyone else involved in this process for making the best of a bad situation.

At its monthly meeting on Monday, February 19th the session accepted the finance committee’s recommendation to apply this expenditure to the 2018 budget—though it was unexpected—and to adjust as needed as the year moves on and the effects of the Ministry Expansion plan on the annual property budget become clearer.

Though there is confidence the annual budget will be able to absorb this unexpected expense, the session also recognizes that some among us appreciate the opportunity to give to specific causes in the life of the church. So, if you would like to give to help offset the impact of this expenditure we would certainly welcome that gift.

If you have any further questions please feel free to talk to Property Manager Tito Baca and/or Pastor Scott.