Northern Light United Church was built in 1974, and until recently, it had an elevator to match.<\/p>\n
In December, that changed when a new elevator was installed to better meet the needs of the church’s congregation and those who use the church for community events.<\/p>\n
“We have an elderly congregation, so quite a few of them need to use the elevator,” said Nico Bus, who is on the council for Northern Light United Church<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bus said previously, elderly people or people who use a wheelchair had to wrestle open the metal doors of a 45-year-old elevator in order to go from street level to the basement, the sanctuary or loft.<\/p>\n The new $250,000 elevator opens with the touch of the button. Its installation included modifications to the elevator shaft, new electrical components and a whole new elevator.<\/p>\n “Our goal was to raise half of (the funds for the project) from members and other groups,” Bus said.<\/p>\n [Auction aims to raise money for elevator<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n As of Tuesday night, about $120,000 had been raised, but Bus was optimistic Tuesday’s Mudrooms storytelling event benefiting the church’s elevator project would push them past the goal.<\/p>\n A crowd of over 200 made that goal seem entirely possible.<\/p>\n Mudrooms, a monthly storytelling series in its eighth season, has long been housed in the church and every Mudrooms installment benefits a nonprofit. The January show was designated to help defray costs associated with the elevator project.<\/p>\n [Mudrooms returns and branches out<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n Bus said it was also the first night of real use the elevator received.<\/p>\n “This is kind of the inaugural event,” Bus said in n interview Tuesday before Mudrooms. “This is the first major event where it’s functioning.”<\/p>\n Northern Light United Church has a history of renovations, Bus said. A few years ago, the roof was replaced, and in the future there are plans to renovate the church’s entrance.<\/p>\n “After that, we hope we’ll be done for a while,” Bus said.<\/p>\n The remaining $125,000 for the elevator renovations will come from the church’s reserves.<\/p>\n Mid-season check-in<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the years, Mudrooms has raised more than $100,000 for nonprofits<\/a>, said Alida Bus, Mudrooms story board member and daughter of Nico.<\/p>\n She said so far, this season of Mudrooms, which runs through May<\/a>, has brought in about $6,000 for Family Promise of Juneau. The next four shows will benefit National Alliance on Mental Illness-Juneau.<\/p>\n Alida Bus said this season of Mudrooms is going well.<\/p>\n “We have a pretty seasoned board and our story coaching has been pretty successful,” she said.<\/p>\n She said the podcast version of Mudrooms <\/a>also seems to be working out well based on feedback.<\/p>\n