It might not look much like hallowed ground at the moment. But a newly-plowed work site in Burlington is well on its way to becoming the new spiritual home for a congregation that’s now based in the town of Haw River.
Over the past couple of weeks, bulldozers and backhoes have begun to prepare this 7-plus-acre tract at 209 Alamance Road to serve as the new earthly abode for the Haw River Seventh Day Adventist Church, which currently occupies about 4 acres at 151 North Wilkins Road within Haw River’s municipal limits.
Last month, Burlington’s inspections department gave this project its official blessing by issuing a building permit for a “new church,” as well as the accompanying “parking and appurtenances,” which are ultimately estimated to cost some $4,881,344 to complete.
This seven-figure sum may seem like quite a few rounds of the collection plate for this small town congregation, which belongs to the Charlotte-based Carolina Conference of Seventh Day Adventists. Yet, the Haw River Seventh Day Adventist Church isn’t staking its plans on a prayer and a promise, according to Kourtney Harod, the assistant director of communication for the Carolina Conference, which owns the lot being developed in Burlington as well as the congregation’s existing home in Haw River.
“This building project was allowed to move forward because they received a windfall from a trust,” Harod went on to explain in an interview last week. “They’re going to be pouring concrete next month, and the estimated date of occupancy is next October.”
According to county property records, the Carolina Conference has held the title and deed to the property along Alamance Road for more than two decades. Harod recalled that this acreage has traditionally housed a Christian radio station, which doesn’t actually belong to the conference although it does have ties to some of its members. The Carolina Conference also owns an adjacent lot at 108 Trail One that’s presently home to another, Spanish-speaking congregation. Harod noted that the Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día will remain separate from the new, English-speaking church along Alamance Road in order to maintain its linguistic and cultural distinctions.
Harod added, however, that the new church building will provide plenty of growing room for the 140 members of his organization’s Haw River congregation.
With a projected 13,500 square feet of floor space, the new edifice will be nearly twice the size of the congregation’s existing digs, which cover a little less than 7,800 square feet at 151 North Wilkins Road. The church’s grounds will, likewise, undergo a considerable expansion from the roughly 4.2 acres in Haw River to a more capacious 7.3 acres along Alamance Road.
In any event, Harod said that the proposed move from Haw River to Burlington will put this church in a position where it can make the most of the additional space it will soon have at its disposal.
“One of the reasons for moving [to Burlington],” he elaborated, “is that they feel they can better serve the community because the population there is about double the size that it is in Haw River.”
