The new North American Division Headquarters building, under renovation at 9705 Patuxent Woods Drive in Columbia, MD is scheduled to be completed by August 31, 2017. The occupation of the new building is scheduled to occur in September, just prior to Annual Council in October.
The new location is approximately 12 miles northeast of the General Conference Headquarters. The new property was purchased at a cost of 19.5 million dollars, and the subsequent interior renovations will cost another 11 million, including the infill of a previous courtyard into a glass-covered atrium. As they have done with other Divisions, the GC made a contribution to this building project to the tune of 3 million dollars (roughly ten percent of the total cost). The size of this building is 120,000 ft².
The move was originally scheduled to occur in April of 2017, a deadline that was pushed back to the end of August.
The reasons offered for the relocation are threefold.
- More space (the new building has about 3 times the floor space of the previous headquarters in the GC building).
- To further the "missional vision" of the Division.
- "We needed more space to dream, to plan, and to collaborate in order to develop the kind of programs that will impact the local church" (Dan Jackson).
With the August 31 deadline for completion of construction looming, every day and every week counts. Most every construction project experiences setbacks, and this one is no different.
We are informed that the fire suppression system recently malfunctioned and the NAD lost their computer server when the sprinkler system turned on. They are hoping insurance will cover the expense.
Some NAD workers have been coming to work in jeans and T-shirts so they can help with the packing. The GC is having a farewell program on September 20.
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