Dear Friend of Welch College,
It was exciting last Friday to walk out on the new campus after grading had been done on the site to reveal where each building will be located. I walked the campus and prayed a prayer of thanks to God for bringing us to this point, and I prayed for His providential guidance of the entire construction and transition process.
I am writing to ask you to pray intently for this process as well. Pray particularly for two things:
(1) the Building on the Legacy campaign to raise necessary funds for campus relocation and (2) the timely completion of the construction project.
First, on the capital campaign front, I am excited to report that we received our first pledge in the public phase of the Building on the Legacy campaign—an anonymous pledge for $110,000. Praise the Lord with us for this first strong campaign pledge!
Second, pray for the timely completion of the project. We announced in June our hope to start the fall semester 2016 on the new campus, but stated that we knew it might be January of 2017. Our contractors believed, up until September 1, that a fall 2016 opening was possible, but they notified us last week of an updated project completion date of November 2016. Thus, we plan to move in December and January and begin the spring semester in late January 2017 (please see the tentative schedule below).
This contingency plan was already one of the options agreed on by the buyer of our West End property, who has been notified that we will stay on campus a few more months, and he has adjusted his plans accordingly.
Our contractors indicated that the new completion date is the result of the slow initiation of site work, owing primarily to delayed responses from subcontractors who are working in a surging Middle Tennessee construction market and a longer-than-usual site survey process.
Please continue to pray for us as we navigate the new complexities of a campus relocation and transition, and pray for us as we get out among Welch supporters and raise funds for the new campus of Welch College.
Sincerely,
Matt Pinson
President
Tentative Revised Calendar, 2016-2017 Academic Year:
West End Campus: Classes Begin August 16, 2016; End of fall term November 16, 2016
Gallatin Campus: Classes Begin January 24, 2017; End of spring term and Commencement May 19, 2017