During a beautiful spring Holy Week in March, 1964, a new centerpiece for Methodism in Dallas was dedicated. Featuring a two-story glass entry on Harwood Street called “Portals of Inspiration”, the annex added 22,000 square feet to the church campus, providing the congregation with desperately needed classroom space, choir room, theatre-in-the-round, and art gallery. At the heart of the new construction was a large multipurpose room called “Crossroads Center” and this space continues its function as the primary hospitality area for the church today.

Crossroads Center’s construction took place during the time period in which Mid-century Modern styling prevailed — including the use of rich wood veneers, warmly toned brick and crisp clean lines. At the time of renovation, most of the original 1964 finishes in the Crossroads Center space remained, including all finishes and fixtures in the break room. Simply put, these items had fulfilled their useful lives and were completely worn out. The meeting room has been modified slightly through the years but the changes generally fell within the realm of redecoration. Original flooring material was in poor condition and the lighting system was a combination of down lights and florescent cove lights with lamps which have become obsolete.

Work began in summer of 2011 to design a comprehensive renovation of the Crossroads Center. The update removed all non-original trim and window treatments, replacing aluminum blinds with sleek mesh shades that are hidden in a pocket above each window when raised. A new operable partition was installed which divides the room and features high-performance acoustical separation properties. The break room was totally demolished and rebuilt with new lighting, millwork, solid surface countertops, an under-counter ice machine, and high capacity dishwasher. Finally, the space received fresh paint using a color palette designed to coordinate with the Patio Expansion project (groundbreaking in 2012) in a harmonious fashion.