The Concordia Story: A Fifty-Year History of Concordia Lutheran Church 1951-2001

percent stucco, which gave the impression of a
lot more stone being used.
The contractor, Bartlett Cocke, Inc., was
selected long before plans were finalized.
“This allowed the contractor to be in on the
planning process. They just had tremendous
practical suggestions, which ended up saving us
a lot of money.”
Seale points out that a major effort went into
saving trees on the campus and into designing
road systems and other infrastructure to facilitate
future expansion, in accordance with a
master plan.
The man engaged by Concordia to manage
the construction project was long-time member
Malcolm Watson.
According to Seale, Watson, with his years
of construction experience, “was the greatest
construction manager we could ever have had.
He was the key to our having the quality of
project that was eventually built. Malcolm and
his wife Dorothy had raised their children at
Concordia, so Malcolm was focused on getting
the best facility constructed for future generations
of Concordians.”
Other members engaged in construction
trades made contributions to the project, such
as Jeff Brown of Brown Engineering, who provided
civil engineering on the job. One of those
who added significant value to the project was
Mort Roszell, who did all the site work and
paving. According to Seale: “Mort and his family
worked non-stop out at the site from the day
we broke ground until completion. They contributed
many hours of equipment time and
labor without ever mentioning compensation.”
Financing of the massive project required a
series of actions and commitments by the congregation
and leadership. It was simply too large
and complex a project to afford without a mort-
✦
Above: Lo Devora, right, supervises
installation of one of the many statues
which accent Concordia’s campus.
Right: The worship center takes shape
at the new campus. Construction of
the entire campus took just 14 months.
58 ✦ THE CONCORDIA STORY