DALLAS -- First Baptist Church of Dallas plans to park its future downtown in a new, eight-story building designed to meet the needs of those living and working in the area and its nearby Arts District.
The $48 million project, unveiled May 5, will replace a parking lot and a building named after the church's late Rev. W.A. Criswell, according to The Dallas Morning News.
In addition to the new sanctuary and church offices, plans include a combination Christian bookstore and coffee bar that would be open at night, a sports-themed snack bar, a banquet hall suitable for Christian dinner theater or lectures and a banquet kitchen suitable for catering downtown events off the church campus.
Fund-raising is set to begin in the fall, but construction will not begin until the first $24 million is in hand along with three-year pledges for the remainder, the Rev. Mac Brunson, the church's pastor, said. Construction is expected to take about two years.
First Baptist, which averages 5,000 in Sunday-morning worship and has an $8 million annual operating budget, is one of four major congregations based in downtown Dallas. The Roman Catholic Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe, First Presbyterian Church of Dallas and First Methodist Church of Dallas have all reported modest growth during the last few years, the newspaper reported.
