The First United Methodist Church at 400 North Michigan Street in downtown Plymouth appeared before the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety this week seeking a Commercial Revitalization Rebate Program Grant.
Ed Langfeldt, chairman of the trustees told the city board they have hired Brown and Brown General Contractors out of Wakarusa as their contractor for a project to reconstruct the roof over the sanctuary. He told the board in 1978 a tornado tore off the large cupola of the church. The contractor hired for the repair removed key structural members supporting the roof and interior dome. Since 2020 temporary shoring was installed because the roof was unstable.
Langfeldt said this project will remove substandard structural repairs from the 1970s and replace that work with a new sanctuary roof structure. The entire roof of the sanctuary will be re-shingled. The project also includes new front steps, a rehabilitation of the sign out front on the corner, the addition of an insignia on the building along with restoration of the side doors on the north and south sides of the building.
Work should start late next month, and they hope to have the project completed by the end of the year because they have been out of the building since June 2019.
The total cost for the project is $245,915 and the Commercial Revitalization Rebate Program Grant will rebate 20% of eligible improvements, not to exceed $25,000.
The Plymouth Common Council unanimously approved the resolution for the maximum rebate of $25,000.
