Gleanings From
In Christian Fellowship
By Shirley Lindahl
Edited by Jerry Rutherford
Building Committee Activated
In June of 1939 the Planning Committee for the new church became officially the Building Committee. Helen Shinstrom was appointed the chair and had 11 people on her committee. A financial committee was appointed which included six persons. Among them were Clayton Shinstrom, local banker, Chet Green, funeral home owner and Irving Gates who owned the telephone company. They were to "control all monies, pledges or other collateral which pertained directly with the financing of the new church plant." It was decided the construction would not commence until the two committees felt a sufficient sum had been accumulated. Pledges were signed promising to pay at the call of the treasurer of the building finance committee with a clause that stated "It is further mutually agreed that no call will be made by treasurer until the total estimated sum of $15,000 necessary to start the building has been pledged." Too many times in the past the congregation had talked about construction but had not been willing to pay for it.
Architects submitted plans. The committee toured recently built churches in the Puget Sound area. In July three plans were accepted by the building committee. It was felt the church needed to request that the city council establish the grade of the streets and alleys before construction as this could affect the building design. Capacity specifications were determined as follows: Auditorium or sanctuary--216; choir--23; balcony--78; and narthex--45 for a total of 362.
A loan would be needed and a request was sent to the Congregational Building Society explaining the plan to build. The response was a consent to furnish 1/3 of the cost of the building. Half of this amount would be a gift with the remainder a loan at a low interest rate.
The three plans submitted were voted on by the congregation. Architect Fred Lockman's blueprints showed an estimated cost of $35,000. John Nelson, a church member and builder presented a simpler plan for $25,000 and there was no record of the cost for the other proposal. The Lockman plan received the highest vote. The plans were sent to the Congregational Building Society for approval.
Life in Kirkland in 1940 saw the WPA (Work Progress Administration) working on the Civic Center Building which served the needs of Kirkland for 27 years before it burned in a dramatic fire. Plans were underway for the third annual Strawberry Festival complete with parade, carnival and shortcake. The first ping pong tournament in town saw LeRoy Johnson paired with one partner while his wife, Nellie, the only woman entered, had another partner. (It was not noted who won the match.) The biggest news that spring was the coming of the Lake Washington Pontoon Bridge. It was to be a toll bridge and Captain Anderson of the ferry service decided to cut his rates in half making it 25 cents for a car and driver. A proposed bus service to Kirkland created a stir in town because of everyone's loyalty to the ferry. At a mass meeting "300 irate citizens packed the American Legion Hall and voted to unanimously support the ferry over the bus service." The masthead of the East Side Journal that year had two headlines: "Keep America out of War" and "Kirkland Must Keep Its Ferry."
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