Highland Park UMC construction reaches halfway point

Tolleson Family Activity Center includes special needs, youth, gym and worship space

Highland Park UMC is marking the halfway point in the construction of its Tolleson Family Activity Center, containing space for the church’s special needs ministry, family ministry and an underground parking garage.

Construction on the 65,000-square-foot building began in August 2017 and is scheduled to finish in March 2019. It is now far enough along that Rev. Paul Rasmussen, Highland Park’s senior minister, and Ken Reiser, the church’s executive director of multi-site and expansion, took a tour of the four floors. Soon crews will place the final beam on top of the building.

The special needs center, on the first floor, will be the most innovative of the spaces. It will include a sensory room, a motor movement room and a full kitchen called Chance’s Pie Palace.

The Youth Ministry Center, on the second floor, is designed to appeal to today’s kids with a gaming center, lounge area, café and small group rooms.

A full-size gymnasium and 500-person worship center take up the third floor, And anyone who has parked around Highland Park and Southern Methodist University will be glad to know there will be a 140-space parking garage underground.

The building is part of the $65 million Beyond Capital Campaign, in which Rev. Rasmussen challenged members to move beyond themselves, their limits and their walls.

Published: Friday, June 1, 2018