We have signed with two additional cellular telephone companies allowing them to lease space to place equipment and antennas for enhanced transmission and reception. T-Mobile will be building a platform in the brick base of the steeple to hold their small sized equipment. AT&T will be constructing an excavated area and screening brick wall beside the Sanctuary on the chapel side. By excavating and constructing a wall, the cellular equipment will not be visible from ground level outside the building. Michael T. Foster, the architect for the renovation, has helped with the wall design in order to have it fit in with the architecture of the Sanctuary.
Both companies will be placing antennas in the metal portion of the steeple which will require replacement of the metal with a Radio Frequency Friendly material. Upon completion of the installation of the RFF material the steeple will be completely repainted.
The existing storm drain by the Rose Garden will be in the way of the foundation for the screening wall and will have to be removed and replaced with a new storm drain located further into the grass and Rose Garden.
To provide the necessary power for the two companies Dominion Power must provide an additional power line. This will be a buried line coming from the far side of Cameron Mills Road, running near the new storm drain to the end of the new screening wall near the library.
At the same time the church is engaging a landscape architect to help in developing a landscape plan for the church property. This is expected to provide a planting scheme for the disturbed space in front of the new wall; a revised Rose Garden; a memorial for Reverend Karen Blomberg; and a planting proposal for the remainder of the property to be implemented in the future when funds become available.
Westminster Facilities
Westminster has a four story facility housing a 550 seat sanctuary, a 70 seat chapel, a variety of meeting rooms and classrooms for all ages, as well as a columbarium in the narthex of the chapel. The building is handicap accessible with an elevator, which services all four floors, located just inside the education wing lobby. A large parking lot is located beside the education wing, behind the sanctuary with entrance from Monticello Blvd.
A major renovation project was completed in the spring of 2007 and the congregation returned to the building for worship on Palm Sunday 2007. The sanctuary was renovated to improve acoustics, sight lines and the versatility of the worship space. Our children's education rooms were renovated; the fourth floor attic was finished to provide youth and Boy Scout rooms; the staff offices were moved to the third floor; and the library was relocated, providing a gathering place near the sanctuary. Additionally the project provided major upgrades to the HVAC system and building security.
