The building is also considered as the largest volunteer construction project in Arizona. Site work on the assembly hall began in March 2009 for a storage building, a residence for the caretaker and visiting speakers, and the main auditorium.
The entire construction of the facility has utilized volunteers from Arizona, except the main auditorium. Spread over 45,000 square feet, this was the only part of the complex that required hired help with the steel contractor erecting the framework. The auditorium will house 2,171 permanent seats and a large lobby with artistic depictions of Arizona’s natural beauty. It will also feature a display tracing the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Arizona since 1906.
Located on McCartney Road about two miles east of Interstate 10 in Casa Grande, the building will be used by Jehovah’s Witnesses from major part of Arizona for Bible-education meetings. The assembly hall will feature meetings in either English or Spanish on designated weekends. Till now, the Arizona Witnesses have been using school auditoriums and other rented facilities for their larger public gatherings. The 16-acre site was chosen because of its convenient location.
Jim Ellison of Phoenix, a retired excavation contractor who volunteered as the project’s construction overseer, said that the building will be used mostly on weekends by about 23,000 Witnesses who live within a 150-mile radius.
The entire cost of the project is estimated to be over $7 million including the land, materials and extensive street improvements. An invitation-only dedication for the assembly hall is scheduled for August 28, 2010.
