Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2104 Bob Billings Parkway, will vote Sunday on a proposed expansion that would add a .5 million, 9,200-square-foot space for classrooms, meetings and recreation.

Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2104 Bob Billings Parkway, will vote Sunday on a proposed expansion that would add a .5 million, 9,200-square-foot space for classrooms, meetings and recreation.

One of the most visible churches in Lawrence is looking to nearly double its size.

Immanuel Lutheran Church and University Student Center, located at the corner of Iowa and Bob Billings Parkway, is set to vote Sunday on a $1.5 million, 9,200-square-foot addition that some members hope will attract more young families and college students.

“We needed this about five years ago,” says Ed Clement, chair of the fundraising committee. “We can’t wait any longer.”

The church is looking to add a large multipurpose room that could handle fellowship gatherings as well as a basketball and volleyball court.

The proposed building also would have several classroom spaces. The current facility has only small classroom spaces, and the acoustics in the building mean that the narthex has to be vacant when Sunday school is in session.

The new addition also would mean regular meeting spaces for campus ministry, youth ministry and a ministry for the blind and visually impaired.

“We’d like to have designated areas for each of those,” Clement says. “Now, they have to come in and jockey for space with other groups.”

Immanuel Lutheran Church has met at the prominent corner since 1986. At that time, it merged with the Lutheran student ministry, which already was meeting across from the dorms of Kansas University’s Daisy Hill.

Expansion or relocation has been discussed for decades, but Jack Landgrebe, chairman of the building committee, says most members want to stay put.

“People like this location,” he says. “With the campus ministry, it’s accessible to campus. It’s visually close.”

Adds Clement: “This is one of the key intersections going into campus.”

In addition to the vote Sunday, it also is the day most members have been asked to make pledges toward the building project. Clement says he’s been encouraged by early pledges.

“People are looking five, 10, 20 years down the road,” he says. “They’re looking for how this can help the future of the church.”