The congregation at Santa Cruz Valley United Methodist Church in Sahuarita weathered challenges over the last few years as their number declined and COVID-19 hit, but the Rev. Sandy Johnson is breathing a sigh of relief as they eye a new location and a fresh start.
The move comes after the Town Council on Monday approved purchasing the church building at La Villita and Sahuarita roads for $2.4 million. The unanimous vote came in at 6-0 with Council Member Bill Bracco absent. The town's staff also recommended approval.
The town began the discussions after Santa Cruz Valley approached them last fall. The town said the 6.5-acre site, with a building covering about 10,000 square feet, would align with its Strategic Plan and could serve the parks and rec department's needs. The town's presentation said the $239-per-square-foot cost comes in "much" lower than the current cost to build.
Council Member Simon Davis estimated new construction costs would likely run the town $500 to $600 per square foot. Town staff noted that the agreement would come with a July 7 closing.
During the meeting, parks and rec Director Devin Stalder presented the item to the council along with the needs he found for expanding parks facilities.
"I was sitting back there thinking about the 'why' behind this project, and it got me thinking back to when we started our master planning at the spring of last year," he said. "One of the items that came up pretty prominently was our space needs in the Master Plan. And one data set that I can share with you that I think really encompasses that is with our Camp Sahuarita that's coming up here in June. That program has registered 30 kids over eight weeks — so, 30 kids a week, limited by the space at Anamax."
Stalder said the department has 30 to 50 children on each week's wait list, noting that's a good reason behind the "why" to purchasing the property and expanding space. He estimated Anamax provides about 4,000 square feet of space when Mayor Tom Murphy asked how it compared to the church's approximate 10,000-square-foot structure. Vice mayor Kara Egbert noted that Anamax's facility hadn't been expanded in the 13 years she spent on the council.
"And in that time, we've seen significant growth in our community and significant demand on our activities and programs," Stalder said.
During the council's discussion, Egbert noted that she liked that the purchase would allow the town to put the new facility to use this year.
The purchase also relieves pressure on the church to continue paying the property's mortgage. Johnson said the congregation had 200 to 250 members and strong finances when it built the church in Rancho Sahuarita in 2011.
"And through a series of kind of unfortunate circumstances, our church has declined to a smaller number. We can't afford to continue to pay the mortgage," she said.
The congregation is selling the property but doesn't plan to fold. Johnson said her 30 to 35 members plan to close on a property off Duval Road in mid-July, and the move is bringing breathing room to explore new paths, ministries and worship services.
"We're adding a program there that should open in September for disabled adults — a day program," Johnson said. "So, we're pretty excited."
The congregation has a ministry for adults with disabilities, totaling 25 adults between two programs. With the new location, Johnson wants to have something locally where adults with special needs don't have to go to Tucson. She also envisions a community garden and, eventually, a cafe.
Johnson said an RV storage area on an empty half-acre on the property is also in the works.
Santa Cruz Valley also plans to establish an LGBTQ-safe space at its new location.
"I've been in contact with EON Youth Lounge in Tucson to bring their program down here as well," Johnson said.
Johnson joined the congregation about four years ago, but she noted the decline began about eight years ago. She found coming in with an expensive building and declining membership frustrating to balance.
"But with the sale of the building, we will have funds to pay cash for this new property and really start us out in a much better position," Johnson said.
Johnson found it sad to let go of the property in Rancho Sahuarita, especially after working hard to turn things around for years. She noted the pandemic was especially hard to grapple with while already trying to revitalize the church.
"We are growing again, and we have great things happening, and we're very excited at the prospects of our future. We just couldn't turn it around quick enough to keep the building," Johnson said. "It's just a building — the church goes on, right?"
Assistant Editor Jorge Encinas graduated from the University of Arizona with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism. He returned to the Green Valley News after two years as the editor of the Capital Journal in Pierre, South Dakota.
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