How are we repurposing the Mass Ave Church?

The church building on Mass Ave can be used for Youth Group and children’s activities and will continue to be used for smaller services and weddings. In the future, the Mass Ave sanctuary might also be used as a video venue like the Mill service.

What will happen to the Ministry Center?

Once the Mill building is renovated for our children’s ministry, the current Ministry Center will be sold to the town of Arlington or possibly leased out to raise some of the funds needed for the project.

Will there be space for fellowship after the service? Will we have the capacity to support large events?

The new fellowship hall will not be large enough for the entire congregation to have sit-down meals on Sundays, but we will have the space and a kitchen to support seated meals for medium and some large groups.

On Sundays, the fellowship hall will be used to provide snacks and refreshments following services. In nice weather, the doors can be opened so that people can flow out into the courtyard.

How will parking work?

Dedicated Highrock parking will still be limited, but using the Mill St. properties as our central location makes all the parking at the Arlington High School closer and more accessible. Unfortunately, the lack of plentiful parking is one challenge that we simply cannot solve in a cost effective way! It is one of the limitations of being located in a town like Arlington.

We will continue to encourage the use of the bike-path and public transportation for those who can. Bike racks will be available near the rear entrance.

Is there an outdoor children’s space?

Unfortunately, our limited outdoor space does not give us much room for a full children’s playground. However, we are exploring options for play space behind the Mill, and the main entrance will have a courtyard area that children can run around in. There is also a grassy park area just lower down on Mill Brook Drive.

What are we doing with the basement of The Mill?

Our current plan is to install an elevator that will go down to the basement level which can be partially renovated in the future into additional meeting rooms or children’s classrooms. These additional meeting rooms are not part of this initial project and would most likely be a future capital improvement. The rest of the Mill basement can continue to be used for storage and other creative projects like building Summer Blast sets.

What will happen during construction with the Mill sanctuary, children’s classrooms, and staff offices?

Because most of the work will be happening in our Mill garage and Auto Parts buildings, regular programming will not be impacted significantly during construction. Staff offices may need to be moved temporarily while we renovate the current Mill Building into new children’s space. And there may be a period of time when the Mill sanctuary will not be available for Sunday worship. We may need to open overflow space in Highrock Commons (downstairs in the main building) during that time. However, once construction is completed, we will all be reunited together again in our new sanctuary and children’s space!