Historic First Baptist Church of Castroville was seeing growth throughout their congregation. New demographics in and around Castroville show more young families with children moving into the area. Powers Goolsby partnered with the church to develop a new master plan on the existing site to allow for future growth and incorporate the existing parking lot and buildings. The existing sanctuary sits at the base of the hill, leaving town, and has become an iconic image of the city, which needed to remain visible. The solution was to locate the new facilities behind the sanctuary, keeping the historic view intact.

A covered pedestrian walkway now connects the existing to the new to allow a gradual ramp. This new pedestrian circulation will be the backbone of all future development as per the master plan. The design of the new fourteen thousand 14,000 square foot facility needed to accommodate the needs of today and incorporate the vision of the future.

The dimensions of the building started with the vision of the future. The building needed to be large enough for sport activity with the play space for a basketball court and the height capability for volleyball. Once the general dimensions were finalized, the task of adding current ministry needs developed the floor plan completed the design. Contained within the structure is a new secure children’s ministry. This self-contained unit allows parents to drop off their children and feel comfortable with the new state of the art security. Wrapping the Children’s area is a large bright, inviting, lobby space that leads to the new six hundred-seat sanctuary and multiple youth classrooms. The marking of the new main entry with the addition of a large stone tower and metal cross pays homage to the historic tower and copula of the existing structure.