Doylestown Street Closed Monday for Church Construction

Mechanics Street will be closed Monday between Broad and Church street in the borough for ongoing construction at Doylestown Presbyterian Church.

Church Street also will be limited to one lane, and flaggers will be on site to direct traffic.

Two 47-foot steel beams for a pedestrian bridge were scheduled to be delivered Monday morning at 7:00 a.m., according to Phil Ehlinger, deputy manager of Doylestown Borough.

The bridge, which will link the main church building to the expanded Andrews Hall, is being constructed as part of the church's $9 million renovation and expansion project.

The intersection of Church and Mechanics streets should not be impacted by the delivery of the steel beams, Ehlinger said.

The pedestrian bridge will be the only such structure in Doylestown, and many people in and outside the church community are anticipating its completion.

For the church, the bridge will be a convenient addition, improving comfort and accessibility between the sanctuary and offices and other facilities, according to church officials.

"I think the bridge is an exciting part of all this," Jim Laser told DoylestownPatch in May. Laser is moderator of the church’s renovation and construction committee.

"It’s so valuable to us,” he said, adding "There are a lot of reasons why, long-term, we want to connect these buildings, since so much of our support services, people, practices are in the other building."

Work is progressing on the renovations to Andrews Hall, where new classrooms and nursery areas on the second floor are being completed.

Meanwhile, painting, mechanical and electrical work, wall construction and new flooring installation is underway in the main church building, according to a construction update from the church.

The church hopes to have the construction project finished by Thanksgiving.

The presbyterian congregation traces its roots in Doylestown to 1804, when the Reverend Uriah DuBois, a presbyterian minister in Bedminster, founded the Union Academy in the borough.

The first Doylestown Presbyterian Church was dedicated in 1815.