Cornerstone Christian Academy classes to resume Aug. 31
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — When students at Cornerstone Christian Academy return to school Aug. 31, they’ll be in familiar surroundings, as school will once again be in session at the Family Christian Center on the Caribou Road.
Officials had hoped to be in their new location — 180 Houlton Road — by the start of the 2011-12 school year, but a number of factors have caused plans to be delayed.
“We have acquired the former Jehovah’s Witnesses building on the Houlton Road, but we need to expand that building before we can move in,” said Troy McCrum, principal. “The building itself is about 4,200-square feet. We could do a small addition on that and take the sanctuary and cut it up, but we’d have some issues with the Fire Marshall’s office if we did that because we’d have to do a lot of retrofitting of that building because we’d be creating corridors. It would be a huge expense to convert that, plus it would eliminate a large room for us to gather in for lunch, inside recess, chapel and events we have at the school.
“I have met with architects and engineers, and everyone feels that our best dollar spent will be to expand the building that is there,” he said. “That was our intent. Our hope was that we would be able to do that for the start of the school year, but our timeline is not God’s timeline. It took us a while to get the zoning changed out there which kind of stalled the project because we really couldn’t go forward until we were certain that we were going to be able to get that property. By the time we got that done and the purchase [of the building] transaction completed, time was getting close.”
McCrum said building plans, which were designed by B.R. Smith Associates, Inc. have been somewhat modified.
“We ended up downsizing the building. We went from an 8,400-square foot building to about a 5,600-square foot addition so it will be a little bit easier for us, faster for us to get in there, and ultimately a little bit cheaper,” he said. “In the addition, we had a lunchroom built in. We’ve ended up eliminating that lunchroom so we’ll have to use a section of the old sanctuary in the existing building for that.
“We’ve got to do a little bit of shuffling,” he said, “but I think in the long run it’s going to be a better plan for us.”
With final blueprints in hand, McCrum said the plans have been taken to several contractors to receive cost estimates.
“We’ve sent our plans to the Fire Marshall’s office to get approval, and we can send out building permits to the city. The project is pretty much ready to kick off; short of investments and financing,” said McCrum. “There’s a committee working on that part of it, and as soon as the money is in place, we’ll be able to start.
“Our goal is to hire a contractor to erect a shell for us and then use volunteer labor to finish the inside. There’s been a large number of individuals, groups and churches that have come forward and said, ‘Let us know and we’ll come and help you do whatever you’ve got to do.’ Hopefully it will be more of a community event once we get to that point,” he said. “For now though, we really want to get that shell up and get the building watertight. We’re in the process of trying to raise a minimum of $250,000 in order to see this project take off. We’ve got a portion of the money that’s required to get the project started and we’ve already spent out a considerable amount of money to get the surveying, septic design, and blueprints done.”
McCrum said plans will proceed when the money is in place.
“Unfortunately there is not a tremendous amount of money out there as far as grants and even financing. Not only just for non-profits, but when you throw in a religious non-profit organization,” he said, “there’s not a lot of money out there. We’re independent: we’re not tied to a denomination. We’ve been a blessed group for having been able to survive five years, but we’re still looking for people to come forward who have a heart for seeing Christian education thrive in Aroostook County.”
Presently, 42 students are enrolled in grades pre-K to grade 8.
“We’re maintaining our numbers from last year,” said McCrum, noting that the school is now entering its sixth year. “When we started in 2006, we had 21 students.”
Recognizing that the Family Christian Center has been “incredibly generous” to Cornerstone Christian Academy, McCrum said CCA is working to get the needed money to complete its building project thereby giving space back to the Christian Center.
“Both our ministry has grown to the point where we are needing more and more space,” he said, “and their ministry and attendance is increasing, as well. In order to really thrive as an independent Christian school, you have to have your own facility, and we’re working diligently to make that happen.
“As soon as the monies are available, the building will start. Once completed, we’ll move; it is possible that we could move during the school year … that’s one of the reasons why we moved our start date back,” said McCrum. “Our intention was to build here over the summer and things kind of fell through as far as timing goes and we weren’t going to start until the week after Labor Day. We’ve since moved the start of school up to Aug. 31 in the event of a mid-year move; we’d take some time to get everything moved out to the new facility. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait and see.”
For more information or to donate to the building project, call the Cornerstone Christian Academy at 768-6222.
