From the Ground Up: BBFI Missions office building

Owner: Baptist Bible Fellowship International
Construction manager: Crossland Construction Co. Inc.
Architect: Burkholder Design Collaborative LLC
Engineers: Toth and Associates Inc., civil; J&M Engineering LLC/RTM Engineering Consultants LLC, structural; Interpres Building Solutions LLC, mechanical, electrical and plumbing; and Own Inc., geotechnical
Size: 13,273 square feet
Cost: $5.5 million
Lender: None
Estimated completion: March 2024
Project description: Springfield-based Baptist Bible Fellowship International is developing a 30-acre campus west of the Sunshine Street and West Bypass intersection. The office building will feature engineered-wood beams with wood ceilings over a large, open lobby, said architect Nathan Burkholder. Construction also is beginning on a community center for missionary training and special events, and soon to follow are two long-term housing facilities with seven units apiece for retiring missionaries and a short-term housing center with five units for missionaries traveling through Springfield. Together, the project cost will be in excess of $7 million. BBFI’s website states its mission is to serve Baptist pastors and their churches as they fulfill the biblical commission: to make individual disciples, to build the church and to teach as God commanded.