Historic Kansas City church says contractor left floors sagging
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City nonprofit that provides constant community support needs some foundation support.
A floor in a historic church in the city’s Historic Northeast neighborhood, which has roots that date back to 1905, is sagging. Church leaders believe it’s the product of poor work by a contractor.
Peek underneath a temporary plywood floor inside the Independence Boulevard Christian Church and you’ll find an unsteady concern.
The church sits in a neighborhood where folks are hungry for help. Every Monday, the church’s Micah Ministry uses a basement level room to serve 500 hot meals to the less fortunate, who then take their meals outside.
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Two years ago, the church hired a contractor to address concerns with that room’s floor. Pastors said signs the contractor took a lot of shortcuts began to surface after about a year.
Pastor Mindy Fugarino, the church’s lead pastor, said the original concern was tied to potential termite damage in three of the church’s rooms.
On Monday, she and a crew of contractors from KC FaithWorks said it looked as if the previous contractors used cheap building supplies that haven’t held up well.
“The floor is already defective, worse than it was before,” Fugarino said.
The church didn’t identify the name of the previous contractor in question.
Fugarino said she’s concerned somebody from the homeless outreach, or the school groups who use this space, will get hurt there. The pastor said the first group of contactors cashed the church’s check for approximately $52,000, but now, their calls aren’t being returned.
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“It t doesn’t feel sturdy or safe when you step on the areas that are currently covered with plywood,” Fugarino said. “You bounce, for sure. Some parts sink more than others do.”
Jerry Carden, one of the contractors from KC FaithWorks, said the current floor in that area is scary.
KC FaithWorks is a nonprofit of Christian laborers that perform general contracting work for other nonprofits. Work is performed at no cost, but Carden specifies clients must purchase construction materials for their projects.
Church leaders told Carden another contractor evaluated repair on the floor at 400 hours of work.
“That’s not good because there’s a lot of things we could be doing beside this. We need to find a way to not take that long. We have to figure this out,” Carden said.
Fugarino said the church is considering potential legal action against the crew to blame for this problem.
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Carden said his crew would love to work on this job, but their workers are mostly retirees. He said their services are already in demand, and they’re not sure of their schedules can accommodate.
Independence Boulevard Christian Church leaders have started this GoFundMe to pay for $14,000 worth of repairs, which would address the immediate area where the Monday meals are served. The church is also hosting a holiday mart Saturday as a fundraiser.
KC FaithWorks can be reached at g.carden@yahoo.com. Carden said their crews work two days each week.
