(Follow this link to see the June 2024 Priory Newsletter where this was recently published.)

It looks like we are very close to getting our building permit and the builder has given us a firm quote for the price of our project: if all goes well, we may well be able to break ground within the next four weeks or so!

As you may remember, in 2022 we decided to hire the company East Avenue Design + Build to build our project and, for the last two years, we have been working with them to finalize our plans and get our project through the permitting process with the city of Portland.

The price the builder has quoted is $320,000 and this will finish the project up to the point where we will be left with the interior walls to paint and the flooring and trim to finish and install. We are presently going through the contract and will likely sign as soon as we have the permit from the city.

Financial Position

The total value of our project will come in around $400,000 and with all the many generous donations, when all is said and done, we hope to be left with around $10,000 in our savings account. For a more detailed picture of our financial position, please reply to this email or contact Allison Coe, our treasurer at [email protected].

Next Steps

In the beginning, we recognized that we might be left with work to be finished by us on this project. As it turns out, we will be responsible for installing the wood floor and trim, and painting. Over the next months, there will be ample opportunities to make offerings of work around the temple. Please let us know if you might like to help in this way.

Also, the existing natural gas furnace in the temple is around 27 years old and is only moderately energy efficient. Since such furnaces usually have a lifespan of around 25-30 years, our hope is to replace that unit with a more energy efficient modern electric heat pump. Our contractor has quoted us to install a new heat pump (HVAC system) for around $19,000 and, if we can raise this money over the next few months, we will have it installed during the construction of our current project. Any further donations to our building fund will go to funding the HVAC system replacement.

Any donations beyond the amount for replacing the HVAC system will go to finishing the replacement of the temple’s outdated wiring and other building related work.

You can make offerings in support of our effort to replace the HVAC system in the usual ways:

• A check to the temple labeled “building fund”
• A onetime payment via your bank’s automatic payment system
  (The above two methods have the benefit of not incurring fees.)
• Donate via PayPal
• Donate via our GoFundMe campaign

Your continued support will be gratefully received and we pray that the Dharma will support and protect you and yours!