Phase one begins on St. Thomas renovation

St. Thomas United Methodist Church officials are in the process of revitalizing the church along Route 53 in unincorporated DuPage County near Glen Ellyn.

After seven years of working on a three-phase project, construction finally has begun and phase one is expected to be completed before the end of winter.

That portion is a $1.6 million project that includes building an administrative wing that will house church offices, handicap-accessible restrooms, elevators to the second floor, a conference room and additional education space. The addition will be connected to the current worship facility.

"We have outgrown the space in our current facility for our education and mission purposes," the Rev. Diana Facemyer said. "The original facility wasn't built with that in mind."

Facemyer said the current building at 2S511 Route 53, where the congregation has been housed since it formed about 45 years ago, has limited office space.

Phase two includes a new sanctuary for the congregation and phase three is a small prayer chapel. The second and third phases have an estimated cost of $2 million, though funding hasn't been pinned down yet. The church borrowed to finance the first phase. After everything's completed, all buildings will be attached.

With 200 current members and an average worship attendance of about 130, officials hope to raise money for the next phases within a decade. But a timeline hasn't been written in stone yet.

"We didn't want to go faster than we could really afford to build," Facemyer said. "We are a small congregation and we knew we couldn't do it all at once."