Zion Lutheran Church (ZLC) came to Gainesville 51 years ago and planted in a temporary building that was intended to last 10-15 years before being torn down. The church still meets in that building today but has outgrown its space. 

After years of waiting and a halted construction project, the church is moving forward with a new design for a sanctuary building. The plan covers 6,400 square feet and should more than double the capacity of the current building, from 120 to 250 people, according to architect Joshua Shatkin. 

“I’m certainly excited and very optimistic about the design of a new sanctuary,” Pastor Brian Wrobel said in a phone interview, mentioning that one congregation member has been part of ZLC since its beginning. “There have been starts and false starts and hopes of a new building for decades now.” 

ZLC began construction on a new sanctuary in 2018, but work halted when concerns arose about the soundness of the design. The church sued Zona & Associates, an architecture firm based in Jacksonville, in 2021, and the matter was resolved. 

Throughout the litigation process, ZLC left the structure standing to be inspected and determine whether the problems were solvable. A partly built sanctuary sat at the corner of NW 34th Street and NW 16th Avenue for much longer than the church intended. 

“It’s been a hard road for us, I won’t shy away from that,” Chris Borgert, ZLC’s president and chairman, said in a phone interview. “It’s been obviously a much longer and more difficult process than we ever envisioned. We feel terrible about… that half-built building that stood there for so long… It has been challenging and disappointing to the congregation.” 

Though ZLC lost about $750,000 in the false start, now the congregation is ready, with lending from its synod and the help of many of the same construction partners as before, who Borgert said were great to work with, though there will be a new architect and engineer for the project. 

Borgert said the congregation wants to publicly recognize and thank its Gainesville partners for their work on the construction project, including Rusty and Deanna Kinnard at Quality Line Homes, Sergio Reyes at EDA Consultants, Trinity Sanders Construction Framing, Universal Engineering Services, Driscoll Engineering and project manager Gabrielle Spurlin. 

“All of those Gainesville construction partners we would gladly have back on the project if that were possible. But you know, there may be a slightly new team because there are other people involved,” Borgert said. 

Joshua Shatkin, the architect for ZLC’s new sanctuary, said his focus for the design has been to ensure the church gets a building that is beautiful, strong and low-maintenance. The masonry building with a metal roof will avoid things like exposed wood that could cost money to repair or replace in the future. 

“I consider myself a 3D puzzle solver,” Shatkin said in a phone interview. “I’m like, okay, take all the pieces together and how do we make this thing sing? That’s the fun part of it.” 

Shatkin said Lutheran churches have a unique design feature that places musicians and choirs further back, away from the center of attention. But in contrast to the musicians’ humbler positioning, Borgert said music is important to Lutheran worship and the church has asked Shatkin to provide special care to sound design. 

Shatkin said the side walls will curve and the back will be angled so sound will not bounce around. The details are not yet worked out, but the church will also have local consultant Gary Siebein helping to optimize the acoustics. 

The church also has a refurbished pipe organ that has been waiting in storage to be installed in the new sanctuary. Borgert said he hopes for the organ to draw the interest of students in the University of Florida’s organ program, and for the sanctuary in general to be an optimized space for the community to use for concerts, lessons and recitals. 

“The whole purpose (of a new sanctuary) is for us to serve the public and open this up, and we hope to get hope to get more of Gainesville worshiping with us in this beautiful building,” Borgert said. 

Replacing the old sanctuary is phase one for ZLC, according to Borgert. After the new building is completed, the old multipurpose sanctuary building will be used for fellowship and classes, which is a function it already serves part of the time. 

At some point, Borgert said the church would like to replace the 50-year-old building, putting something new and functional in its exact footprint. For now, those plans remain further down the road and Borgert said the congregation is looking forward to the completion of the new design.