CABOT — It's been 10 years in coming, but next month Cabot Methodist Church will break ground for the construction of its new sanctuary.

When the church moved in 2002 from its old location at 501 Winfield Road to the former Winfield Elementary School at 707 Winfield Road, construction of a sanctuary was always a goal.

“We've been planning this since we moved here because the school had everything we were looking for to expand except the sanctuary,” said the Rev. Matt Judd, the church pastor. “It's been in the process for 10 years.”

“We paid for this building early and here we go again,” said Butch Yates, a member of the church's board of trustees.

The 8,000-square-foot addition will be built in the front of the former school.

Judd said the sanctuary will fill the space occupied by the present circular driveway. The existing entrance from Winfield Road will be moved farther east.

“We are adding a sanctuary, expanding our lobby area,” said Judd. “It's going on the front. It will be a better space to gather, to go into the sanctuary or going into the rest of the building.”

The construction is expected to take 10 months and cost $2.3 million. Judd said a capital campaign has raised $600,00 for the project and a $1.7 million loan from Northwest Savings Bank will cover the rest of the cost.

The new sanctuary will incorporate the stained glass from the old church, which has been in storage since the move. It will have a bell tower with the bell from the old church which has also been in storage, said Judd.

“It will be a really nice blend of church history with new additions,” said Judd.

When finished, the sanctuary will be able to seat 285. Judd said the church has 350 members and draws about 210 people to its three weekly services, one on Saturday night and two on Sunday.

Judd said those services, which take place in the gym/cafeteria/auditorium of the old school building, will remain unaffected during construction. Nor will the building affect the activities of the Cabot Food Bank, which uses two rooms in the old school building.

“It's just going to screw up the parking,” said Yates.

To remedy that, said Judd, the first phase of construction will be to put in a new 145-space parking lot on the east side of the building.

It will mean reorienting the ballfield and removing the present playground, said Judd, but when completed “there will be a better flow for parking. They will be able to drop off. It will be more accessible.”

Judd said the multipurpose room will be able to be used for dinners, basketball programs and children's and youth events once the sanctuary is completed.

“Everybody will be real happy when it is done,” said Yates.

But what won't be done are fundraising efforts to pay back the loan, said Judd.

“We will continue with the capital campaign until we raise the funds that we need,” said Judd. “It's part of the church DNA at this point.”

He said he thought the church would be able to pay the 20-year loan back ahead of time.

“Primarily it's giving over and above,” said Judd. “We raised over $600,000 in our first three-year campaign, and we began that in November 2008 right around the time the economy tanked and the housing market tanked.”

“The banks were all impressed with the congregation and the amounts they turned in, compared to other churches,” said Judd. “It's a testament to the faithfulness of the people.”

“It's been a challenge, but it's been a good journey for us as a congregation together,” Judd said.