From the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship:
The Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship announces the groundbreaking for an addition to better serve the 300-member congregation at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023.
Established in 1955, the Fellowship is part of the Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations (UUA).
In 2013, the Morristown congregation completed a strategic plan that recommended major improvements to the facility. Over the past 10 years, a capital campaign funded by generous contributions of Fellowship members, alumni, friends and partners supported the new addition and provided for significant renovations to the property.
So far, these include a new parking lot that has virtually eliminated the need for on-street parking, playground, roof, dormers, and front entrance. Drainage and storm water management have been improved to benefit the entire neighborhood. The last and largest part of the project, the new addition is now underway.
The one-story addition will have room for the whole congregation to meet in one place in the 4,000 square foot Al and Minda Chu Family Hall, to learn and teach in modern classrooms, and to celebrate weddings and other Unitarian Universalist ceremonies.
There will be a modern kitchen, the Uhrhane-Wilson Family Welcome Gallery, a courtyard and much improved accessibility including all-gender bathrooms. A sustainable electrical supply, including a solar array, will be featured as will modern AV and social media equipment.
“We hope that in providing the spiritual home our members need, the new facility also will provide new and welcoming space for Fellowship members and others to gather, to do social justice and other charitable work and to promote arts and culture,” says Paul Ferm, president of the Fellowship’s board of trustees.
The original building is a 1912 neo-Georgian structure, originally known as the Thorne Mansion. It is listed on the National and New Jersey Register of Historic Places. The building was designed by Aldrich and Delano, who also designed the U.S. Embassy in Paris and the South Portico of the White House, according to Morris County Historic Preservation.
“Our addition will allow people to experience a life-saving Unitarian-Universalism calling them into the world to connect in peace and prosperity,” said Interim Minister Rev. Joel Miller.
This milestone will be celebrated at the complex, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township. Completion of the project is planned for September 2024.
