The Rev. James Bertoti stands in the soon-to-be-expanded chapel at St. Peter's Reformed Church in Zelienople. Nearly 100 seats will be added as part of the two-story expansion, to be completed by Dec. 18. Money was raised for the project through a capital funding campaign and the total cost of the project is $1.7 million.

ZELIENOPLE — A historic church will be expanded and renovated to accommodate more parishioners in its building on East Grandview Avenue.

The St. Peter's Reformed Church, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year, hopes to begin expansion on April 13.

The Rev. James Bertoti said the two-story expansion will add nearly 100 seats to the 300-seat sanctuary.

The project also will include renovations and expansion to the church's fellowship hall and additional educational classrooms.

An elevator will be installed to improve handicap accessibility.

The nine-month construction project is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 18.

Zelienople council approved the project at its March 9 meeting.

The total cost of the project is $1.7 million.

The church held a capital funding campaign titled "Believe: Building for Life," and raised the funding over the past three years.

Bertoti explained the church was near its seating capacity when it started looking at future possibilities.

The congregation wasn't interested in moving because of the historic nature of the congregation and its association with the building.

So, it decided that expanding the current building was the best future course.

An entire sidewall of the church will be removed to accommodate the expansion project.

Bertoti explained the wall was having water leak issues and was in need of repairs.

Ron Lutz, who was part of the original team that got the project going in January 2005, said the project had several goals to achieve, including improving getting churchgoers in and out of the church and improving both pedestrian flow and handicap accessibility.

When the project was first proposed, Lutz said some members of the congregation had mixed feelings over the project and weren't really sure why it was necessary. But after evaluating the church's west wing, it was determined the wall had water damage that was causing it to deteriorate and would need to be replaced anyway.

"God put us on the path to replace something before we knew it," said Lutz, who added everybody now is excited the project is about to become a reality.