* Korean Central Presbyterian Church:
With 4,500 members, the Korean Central Presbyterian Church outgrew its current facility in Vienna and will replace it with a larger one here, on 80 acres adjacent to Bull Run Elementary. It will go between Route 29 and Compton, Pleasant Valley and Bull Run Post Office roads. It took some doing, but Fairfax County finally gave its blessing to construction of KCPC's new place of worship. Since the site is on RC (residential conservation) land, it needed a special-exception permit from the county, and supervisors and planning commissioners had to weigh serious, environmental and traffic concerns.
Phase one consists of a sanctuary and a chapel with 2,100 seats total, a rectory, private school for grades K-2 and nursery school. It's up to the church to decide how it wants to apportion the number of seats the sanctuary and chapel will each have.
The church is allowed to have 1,180 parking spaces - 982 paved and 198 on grass. Church officials also hoped to obtain permission for a proposed phase two containing another 30,000 square feet for more office and educational space. (A future child-care center is also planned). But for now, just phase one is approved.
* Clifton Presbyterian Church broke ground last summer on a $3 million addition and renovation that's expected to be finished sometime this September. Built in 1872, this picturesque, historic church sits atop a hill behind the Hermitage Inn restaurant in Clifton. The manse next d
oor once housed pastors, but is now used for offices. A preschool, fellowship hall, meeting area and offices were added to the original church building in the 1950s. But now the church needs more room for all its programs. The congregation has two Sunday-morning services, and Glory Korean Presbyterian Church
worships there Sunday afternoons, so the sanctuary capacity will be increased from 120 to 150 seats. The new fellowship hall will be 50 percent larger than the existing one; and the inside of the building- including the kitchen area - will be remodeled and the bathroom made handicap-accessible. (And because of ADA requirements, an elevator will be added between the first and second floors). Classroom space for young children will be added behind the building, closest to the playground. And the pastor's and associate pastor's offices will move from the manse to the second floor.
* The King's Chapel has been around for 10 years, but hasn't yet had a home of its own, so it's now building one in Clifton. The new sanctuary will be in the Braddock Woods community, at 12925 Braddock Road, between Clifton and Doyle roads.
The King's Chapel is a non-denominational church that began with 30 charter members and now has a couple hundred members of various races, ages and ethnic backgrounds. Members previously met at Lanier Middle School and, for the past 1 1/2 years, at Willow Springs Elementary. The new structure will cost about $4 million. Phase one is a 400-seat sanctuary, classrooms for children and adults and a kitchen. Phase two will be a fellowship hall. Groundbreaking was in April and construction is expected to take 12-15 months. If all goes well, the new facility could possibly open in summer of 2007.
* Lord of Life Lutheran Church is building a place of worship at Union Mill and Twin Lakes roads in Clifton. Currently, some 80 of its members worship in Centreville High's auditorium, while another 550 worship in Lord of Life's church on Twinbrook Road in Fairfax. This second sanctuary will serve people in the Centreville/Clifton area. The 37,000-square-foot project will include a two-story sanctuary of about 5,000 square feet. Designed by local architect Bill Robson, one story will be a below-ground basement for a youth center and educational classrooms. The main, ground-level floor will contain a worship space seating 300, multipurpose fellowship hall, classroom space and administrative offices. The 12 classrooms will be used by all ages, and the fellowship hall could be used, for a variety of activities. Total cost of the entire project is more than $5 million.
* Capital Worship Center will eventually move from its current meeting place at Centre Ridge Elementary to a new building of its own. It's building a sanctuary, related facilities and a preschool on 11.7 acres at Ordway and Compton roads and Route 28 in Centreville. The church will construct one building in two phases. Phase one is a multipurpose building to seat 500; it will contain a childcare center operating from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. to avoid peak-traffic hours. Phase two is a 10,000-square-foot addition with 400 more seats for 900 seats total.
The entrance and exit will be on Ordway Road.
* New Life Christian Church plans to build a place of worship on 11.3 acres at Cedar Spring Road and Route 29 in Centreville. The site is just east of Route 29's intersection with Pleasant Valley Road. When completed, the new sanctuary will seat 700 people, and there'll be about 250
parking spaces. The church will be constructed at the front of the site, near Cedar Spring. The project also includes a turn lane at the existing median crossover at Cedar Spring, plus right turns in and out of the site's easternmost entrance. All these transportation improvements are expected to make the intersection of Cedar Spring and Route 29 safer. Currently, some 300-400 New Life families attend two Sunday services at Westfield High.
* Mount Olive Baptist Church on Old Centreville Road plans to build a new sanctuary. Proposed are a 55,000-square-foot church to seat 1,500, a preschool/childcare facility and 587 parking spaces. The project also contains a fellowship hall \emdash
including a commercial kitchen \emdash that can also serve as a banquet hall for 300 people. Proposed, as well, are a chapel for small services, plus a preschool/daycare for 100 students, something the church can't offer now because it doesn't have the room. Comprising the educational component are 20 classrooms for Sunday school and Christian-education training courses.
Also planned is a full administrative wing with a pastor's suite of offices and administrative support space for daily operations. There'll be a separate and independent choir-rehearsal room, multipurpose and conference rooms and office space for the churc
h's ministries. But before it can all come to fruition, it needs Fairfax County's approval.
* Ox Hill Baptist Church received a land rezoning to build a new sanctuary and expand its facilities. It's on 5.7 acres on the east side of Elmwood Stre
et, near Route 50, across from the Sully Plaza Shopping Center