Highland Park Presbyterian Church Shares Plans to Renovate, Expand
Highland Park Presbyterian Church (HPPC) announced its preliminary master plan for its property as it looks to its next 100 years of ministry on University Boulevard.
The Campus Vision plan includes the addition of 35,000 square feet within the setbacks of existing buildings. Most of the current 190,000 square feet will also be renovated. Six of the church’s aging rental homes will be replaced with underground parking below 1.5-acres of open green landscaping.
“We continue to be a church community that exists not only for ourselves, but to serve those beyond our walls. Our Campus Vision plan will make Highland Park Presbyterian more open and welcoming to our community—from new landscaped open space for the neighborhood to more meeting spaces for community meetings and nonprofits that help our city flourish,” said Bryan Dunagan, senior pastor of HPPC. “And after decades of use, many of our facilities desperately need renovation and attention. We believe God is calling Highland Park Presbyterian to greater things as we grow, but all this counts on us having a really vibrant, strong base camp for mission and ministry locally and globally.”
For more than 18 months church members on the Campus Vision team studied the changes needed to support future generations. The most important needs the task force identified included improved facilities for children, students and families, accessibility, parking, and security issues.
“Highland Park Presbyterian has been an anchor in this community since 1926 and is committed to preserving and enhancing the character of the neighborhood for generations to come,” said Clay Sell, moderator of the church’s Campus Vision team. “Every effort is being made to maximize space through renovations and prudent additions while honoring the architectural integrity of Mark Lemmon’s original Gothic Revival structures.”
A key component of the Campus Vision plan is underground parking.
“Parking is a challenge for our church and has been for decades,” Sell said. “It must be solved for the church to continue to live into its mission of being welcoming and accessible to everyone. This proposal is consistent with the trend toward underground parking that we see throughout our landlocked community.”
HPPC continues to hold community meetings to receive feedback before it submits a zoning change.
“We’re striving to be the best possible stewards of what God has entrusted to us. Much prayer and wisdom has been put into these plans, but it’s still in an early stage.” Dunagan said. “We want to continue gathering feedback from our congregation and from our neighbors.”
Fore more information, visit hppc.org/campusvision and zoninghppres.org or call 214-526-7457.
