Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming moves to Casper
http://www.casperjournal.com/articles/2009/09/11/news/news090909.43.txt
by Carol Crump, the Casper (Wyoming) Journal
Friday, September 11, 2009 9:55 AM MDT
The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s new home should be ready just in time to welcome the 400-500 Wyoming church members who will meet in Casper for their annual convention in mid-October. The major renovation of one of downtown Casper’s vintage buildings is turning the 1959-60 era, concrete construction building into a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) “green” showcase.
The first formal location of the Episcopal diocese that now numbers approximately 8,000 members was in Fort Laramie in 1849, when the fort’s soldiers and its families were assigned an Episcopal chaplain. Episcopalians built the state’s first church edifice, St. Mark’s in Cheyenne and in 1886, Wyoming as part of the Missionary District of Idaho and Wyoming had its first bishop.
According to a church legend related by executive director of the Episcopal Foundation John Masters, the diocese was headquartered in Laramie because the bishop at the time agreed to settle in the community that would build a cathedral. The denomination now has 47 churches throughout the state, including St. Stephens on the Wind River Reservation, and provides financial support for the Cathedral Home in Cheyenne and Casper’s Youth Crisis Center.
The 40,000 miles of annual travel retiring Bishop Bruce Caldwell put in to serve his far-flung flock prompted a search for a more central location for the diocese, Masters said. The Episcopal Foundation found the former Beech Street Law Office building on South Durbin Street with the help of CAEDA, and reconstruction began in March 2009.
The building that started out as a savings and loan is one of downtown’s interesting buildings, Masters said. The theme of the “green” building will be Wyoming, with earth tones throughout. A fireplace in a common area will be faced with native rock. The small chapel will include a fountain as a reminder of the Baptismal covenant and the importance of water in the state and an altar made out of a fish fossil from the western part of Wyoming.
“The space will be a landmark in the city,” Masters said.
The lower level of the 1960s era 9,000 square feet building is larger than the upper level and windows next to the sidewalk are designed to let light into the basement. The new design will also include large glass areas in each of the arched spaces under the concrete “wings” that make up the building’s walls to let in even more light. A cross design in shaded glass will be worked into the framework of the front windows. In the interior, the walls between the offices for the diocese’s ten employees will have glass at the top to allow even more light to flow through the building.
Making the building LEEDS compliant required different standards for the remodel, Masters said. LEEDS focuses on recycling and reusing materials. The old sheetrock was recycled by a company in Laramie and the new walls were made of recycled drywall. The wood used in construction came from forests in Oregon that are certified to be replanted. The design is based on better utilization of natural light and the new HVAC system is more energy efficient.
Some of the changes that are being made to the building are necessary to meet more recent standards. An elevator was added on the north side of the building to make it ADA compliant, and the railings on the steps between the main and lower floors were made higher. Even the walls in the basement had to be insulated and new concrete poured to keep water away from the building. A curb that was poured along the southern edge of the property two days before the July 3 record rain storm “worked just fine,” Masters said.
One of the old buildings more interesting features won’t be used by the new owner. An underground tunnel that connected the former savings and loan to the building next door when both were part of the same financial institution will be blocked off. “They used to have a vault down here,” Masters said.
The new diocesan building also is equipped with modern amenities including a communications and electronic meeting system with large screen monitors. The lower level includes a staff fitness area and showers and a kitchen. A large multipurpose area may be available in the future for community meetings.
When a remodel that cost more than $2 million is complete, the downtown building will serve as the headquarters of the diocese, its foundation and its presiding bishop. A search is underway for a new bishop to replace Caldwell, who has announced his plans to retire. A new bishop will be elected in March and consecrated in July. “We hope to be here for 50 years,” Masters said.