Church construction rises above market slump

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO Members of Jehovah's Witnesses are building a Kingdom Hall on Park Meadow Drive in Fort Myers.Volunteers, from the left, are Steve Morrow, Mark White, Bob Beverley. Statistics and news reports indicate Lee County foreclosures are on the rise and building permits are falling, but Church construction is still heaven bound.

This year has seen permitted buildings for religious use in unincorporated Lee County (not including Cape Coral, Fort Myers, or Sanibel Island) valued at over $16 million, Lee County Community Development records indicate; the highest annual value since 2000.

"That would trend along with the increase in church attendance and the increase in population growth," said Joan LaGuardia, a spokeswoman for the Lee County department of Community Development and a former local religion reporter.

U.S. Census Bureau reports show that the general population in Lee County grew by 29.6 percent between 2000 and 2006, adding more than 130,000 newcomers.

But there are many churches in Lee County already, seemingly enough to handle all the county's new residents, with hundreds of locations, of all religious denominations, listed in the Embarq yellow pages; although now, 6 new churches are under construction in Unincorporated Lee County and 2 more in Cape Coral.

"I wonder if it's because construction prices are coming down and builders are looking for work?" LaGuardia said.

Unemployment in Lee County rose to 4.7 percent in July, up from 3.2 percent the same time last year, Florida Labor Market Statistics show.

The shell of one huge new church stands on the corner of Colonial Blvd. and Six Mile Cypress. Another, on Park Meadow Drive in South Fort Myers, is called The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, and is being built entirely by parishioners and volunteers.

"There's absolutely nobody here making money," volunteer David McInturf said. "We all have other jobs."

Congregation elder and local project coordinator Bob Beverley, who is a software consultant during the week, said the grounds and building, which has a seating capacity of about 200, are valued at $850,000. And the labor is free.

"For us, this has been in the making since 2001," Beverley said. "We met with nine other congregations and decided we need a new Kingdom Hall. There's been a lot of growth. We have a lot of new Spanish, English, Romanian, Portuguese, and American Sign Language members. These are all congregations that have exploded in the last 10 years."

This congregation hall will hold services for Spanish, Portuguese and English speaking members.

Various specialists, from general contractors to electricians, donate their time and expertise. Companies like T.W. Nelson lend heavy equipment.

"It's going really well," McInturf, who runs heavy equipment, said. "It'll probably be done in 30 days or less."

During the week McInturf is in the business of sales and marketing.

"All the tradesmen are working together on top of one another, but there's not a lot of the typical fighting," Beverly said. "You see a lot of smiles."

There is an emphasis on safety and quality, Beverly said, and that reports from city inspectors have been positive.

"From the time we break ground to the time we finish is about six months," volunteer Mark White said. During the week, White works a site for a local development company. ¦