Plans revealed for old SCU building

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This article was published 18/06/2018 (2132 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steinbach’s Calvary Chapel church is considering a move onto Main Street into Steinbach Credit Union’s old offices.

Pastor Rob Balfour spoke to city council on Tuesday night, sharing about the church’s plans to enter a long-term lease of the space from SCU. Balfour’s main reason for the presentation to council was aimed at ironing out the issue of parking spaces.

Calvary Chapel, which is located at the intersection of McKenzie Avenue and Lilac Bay, currently has a congregation of about 250 people.

Balfour suggested to council that lack of parking spaces has made it challenging to find a suitable tenant for the former credit union location, which has sat empty for three years, but he noted city rules allow businesses to share parking spaces, if their hours of operation don’t conflict.

Mayor Chris Goertzen noted some churches are opting for more non-traditional services times and that parking issues could be a limiting factor at the location.

Councillor John Fehr wondered too about the church’s future plans.

“I think that we all know that a church’s mandate is to grow,” Fehr said.

Balfour noted the building has capacity for the church to grow in future years but again pointed out the plan is to lease the building, not buy it, offering potential for a move to another location in the future if the church outgrows the space.

“It’s a really great fit for where we are,” he told council.

He added that if church activities required parking at other times, another nearby property owner was open to the idea of renting parking spaces.

Council asked for a report on the issue from administration and expected to review the matter at its next regular meeting.