Formal Change of Address Pending

It’s not official yet.

But within the next several weeks, the familiar address for the Christian Reformed Church’s office in Grand Rapids, Mich. — 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE — will be changing to better reflect how the building has been oriented for many years.

Ever since a major addition was done to the office in 1987, the actual entrance to the building has been located facing 28th Street SE, instead of Kalamazoo Avenue.

John Bolt, the CRC’s director of finance and administration, says the change of address won’t become official “until each of of the boards of our agencies makes the necessary changes so everyone can adjust to this change.”

The need to use up current letterheads on correspondence before turning to new  paperwork is an issue, says Bolt.

Bolt says the move to the new address began more than a year ago when the CRC purchased vacant property east of the CRC office.

Before making any improvements to the land, the City of Grand Rapids required certain legal accommodations. As that happened, Bolt says, he thought the time was ripe for the change of address.

Bolt brought the request of changing the address before the CRC’s Ministry Leadership Team, which agreed to the change late last year.

“We’re not yet at the point to say to the public that we’ve changed the address,” says Bolt.

“We’ll probably get all of the paperwork done and be able to comfortably say by Easter time that our new address is 1700 28th Street.”

The two streets in question vary in nature.

Kalamazoo Avenue is a fairly modest street, beginning in the inner-city of Grand Rapids and running for several miles  south, passing the CRC office, neighborhoods and small businesses before dead-ending in the country.

On the other hand, 28th Street is a bustling, four-lane road stretching from the far southeastern suburbs to the southwestern suburbs and passing through a good portion of Grand Rapids along the way.

When the new address formally takes effect, the CRC won’t have to worry about the mail carrier getting confused, since the CRC has a delivery service pick up the mail at a local post office.

And even with the new address on 28th Street, says Bolt, mail sent to the old address on Kalamazoo Avenue will get to the right place.

This is in large part because the CRC office has it own zip code — 49560 — something that some larger businesses have.

“I’ve been thinking for a long time of suggesting this change,” says Bolt. “Its seems like right now the time is right.”