Children & Youth   The Future of Our Church

The Barn

Designed by a wonderful architect, The Barn will look right at home in our North Georgia setting. The Barn will be placed at the back of the property in such a way that it will not interfere with the expansion of our building in future years. It gives us added space for our expanding educational needs, and has its own look, letting our youth know they are important to us here at Our Lady of the Mountains. Besides giving us more space, it permits us to stretch out in the space we have, and carries us through the recession at a reasonable construction cost.

THE MAIN FLOOR

The main floor of the barn has a large common room to be used as a gathering space for the youth, but also as a place where catechesis can be given in a more casual setting. The kitchen is a place where food can be kept warm, and drinks cool, and gives those meeting in the Barn (young and old) a means to have refreshments with their gatherings. Two large restrooms on the main floor also include what will be rarely used shower stalls for those times when lock-ins occur. The wide front porch could easily accommodate picnic tables and would make a great staging area for parish picnics. Stairs in the back lead up to the loft, and down to the basement which can be used for storage and for an extra classroom if needed.

 

THE LOFT

The loft of the Barn is planned to hold two large-sized classrooms that will initially accommodate our middle school and our high school students. Also on this level will be the office for our Youth Minister, whose task it is to oversee the curriculum and the Christian formation of our teenagers. Once built, these rooms will be the largest classrooms on our campus and should suffice for the growing needs of our youth ministry. By building these two large classrooms, we free up the current classrooms in the trailer for our older elementary school students, as their numbers are growing as well, and more and more demanding upon our limited space.

Similarly, with the building of these classrooms, we hope to open up four of the smallest rooms in the current church basement to make two larger sized classrooms (again, to accommodate our growing enrollment in Sunday School).