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Tonganoxie’s Cornerstone Family Worship plans for new church on former motel property

By Shawn Linenberger - | Sep 11, 2014

The landscape in the 200 block of U.S. Highway 24-40 has changed dramatically in recent weeks.

By the end of next year, it could change even more. The Sunset Motel, a longtime fixture near the highway curve at 205 U.S. 24-40 in Tonganoxie, has been torn down. A house behind the one-level motel has also been removed.

The structures have come down to make room for Cornerstone Family Worship’s new home.

The structure’s cost currently is estimated at $2.7 million.

Cornerstone presently is at 128 E. Sixth St. in Tonganoxie in a 5,000-square-foot structure.

The new church will be 26,000 square feet with plans for expansion in a second phase.

“There’s a chance we can start this fall,” said Rev. Ron Swaim. “Probably the best chance and the most likely scenario will be spring.”

Cornerstone previously had plans to build on 26 acres east of Tonganoxie near 198th Street and U.S. Highway 24-40. But then came the opportunity to purchase 11 acres inside the city limits.

Swaim said the church purchased the land. The motel’s owner handled demolition, while the house behind the motel was moved to a different location.

The congregation continues to raise money for its new church and is nearly one-third of the way toward an initial goal of $1.2 million. Sale of the property east of Tonganoxie, as well as the current church and a neighboring house, will go toward funding of the new church.

Swaim said the capital campaign has been low-key.

“We don’t ever want that to become our theme for our church,” Swaim said. “I probably don’t make a big enough deal of it. People understand what we’re trying to get to.”

Cornerstone Family Worship’s pastor said the existing church could seat about 120 or 130. The main sanctuary at the new church could seat 500 with an overflow of 200 with closed circuit televisions elsewhere at the church.

Membership is around 400, Swaim said, with average attendance being between 220 and 250 on Sundays. The last few years the church has rented the Tonganoxie Performing Arts Center for a 10:45 a.m. Sunday service.

When finished, the church will be fully multipurpose. An industrial kitchen, fellowship hall, coffee shop and classrooms all are part of the plans. A safe room and storage below also are possibilities. Other planned amenities: a children’s church area, a preschool nursery, offices and a reception area.

Swaim said there would be a designated youth room.

“It will hopefully be an after-school hangout and place to do homework in between school and football and basketball games,” he said.

The second phase would include a larger sanctuary and more classrooms.

The church will set back from the road, with parking taking the place of the area where the motel previously stood.

Helping cut down costs will be assistance from a ministry of volunteers versed in the construction field — including one of Swaim’s parishioners who specializes in heating and cooling systems.

Swaim will attend an October conference to get better acquainted with the volunteer organization. The group also helped rebuild the existing church when a 2000 tornado caused substantial damage.

“The shell will be put up and they will come and help us do the finish work on the inside,” Swaim said about the new church.

The church also is getting a hand from Sarah Swaim, Ron Swaim’s daughter.

A 2010 Tonganoxie High School graduate, Sarah is working toward a master’s degree in interior architecture. This past summer she worked at Populous, an architecture firm in Kansas City, Mo., and 505 Design in Boulder, Colo., the previous summer.

The work for Cornerstone Family Worship will be Sarah’s interior architecture thesis project.

With all the assistance in making the new church a reality, its completion could be a year away.

“I would like to think we could be holding services by the end of next year,” Ron Swaim said.