Project 140 was a project to renovate and improve the facilities at Carrubbers Christian Centre at 65 High Street, Edinburgh. The High Street in Edinburgh, otherwise known as The Royal Mile is now one of the prime tourist attractions in the country but has been home to Carrubbers Christian Centre (now Carrubbers City Church) in its various forms since the middle of the nineteenth century.
The building at 65 High Street itself was built in 1884 with subscriptions raised by DL Moody, the famous evangelist. We named the work "Project 140", reflecting 140 years in 2023 since Moody laid the foundation stone and 2024 marked 140 years since the building was opened. They worked quickly in those days!
The building was renovated in the 1980s and was in need of a thorough renovation and, in places, remodelling. The church meeting in the building was thriving and growing and we wished to be faithful to the Gospel history of the building. Project 140 was launched, God willing, to set the building up for the next 50 or more years of Gospel work in the Royal Mile.
Why did we need to improve the building?
As well as the condition of the building, which desperately needed updating, there were many aspects of the building which needed improving.
Accessibility
Entrances – At the time, the accessibility to the building entrances was awful and every week we needed 4 volunteers to carefully "roll" one of our dear family members up the entrance stairs to our mainhall. Of course we did this joyfully, but it was far from ideal. Our side entrance for our lower hall (used for a mid week event to allow the family member to attend) involved rolling the wheel chair down a dangerously steep slope, which when wet from rain was even more treacherous.
Even once in the mainhall, there was only one space at the back of the mainhall that anyone in a wheelchair could be placed. This had a very restricted view with others standing, limited any involvement in the services, and reduced the ability to socialise after the service.
The main entrance was also a hazard for those less able to walk, and each week several elderly people had to navigate the steps to the mainhall.
Accessible toilets were only located on the lower floor with no access other than leaving the main entrance and being wheeled around to the side entrance.
There was also no access to our beautiful oak hall on the first floor, which restricted use of the building or removed the ability for those with accessibility needs to join the event.
Project 140 planned to install lift access from lower to first floors, improve accessible toilets for multiple floors, create an easier access front entrance, modify the mainhall to create wider access routes to allow wheelchair access to many areas, and create a same level drinks/food area.
Flexibility for children's ministry
We were blessed with over 90 children from 0 to 18 years old and needed more flexibility and use of space/rooms to allow us to offer the most amazing children's and teens ministries we could. This is our church family of the future and we want to enable hundreds or thousands of children to grow to know the Lord over the coming decades.
Project cost and fundraising
We estimated that we would need to raise around £1.8m to carry out this project. We aimed to raise these funds from 3 different areas:-
The Core Team
Neil McKenzie
An elder and trustee of the church. He has worked in Information Technology for the private and public sector, and is currently an IT Programme Manager in NHS Scotland.
Pat Ferguson
Currently serves as Church Administrator having worked as a Senior Administrator in Higher Education, latterly working as a Project Officer in the office of the Principal, University of Edinburgh working on significant capital and corporate projects.
David Johnson
The architect for the project is a member of the church and also a conservation-accredited architect with 26 years of experience. He is a director with GLM and has a specialism in the adaption and reuse of existing heritage buildings across a broad range of sectors.
Doug Whyte
An elder and trustee of the church. He had a global career as a lawyer in the oil and gas industry and now volunteers in the church as its Director of Church Operations.
Nigel Burgess
An elder and trustee of the church. He has a career in Product Management in the microchip semiconductor industry focusing on audio products. He focuses on the finance, building and technology within the church.