HUTCHINSON, Kansas (AP, Aug. 28, 2016) – With help from inmates and faith in God, a long-running project to build a chapel at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility is continuing, although it might be years before it is done, supporters of the project said.

The project, which began six years ago, is moving slowly in part because it is being funded entirely by private donations, The Wichita Eagle reported (http://bit.ly/2bVzDGx ).

"Our prison chapels remind us we are working on God's time," said Steve Dechant, board chair of the Hutchinson Spiritual Life Center. ". And sometimes we kind of wish God would speed things up a bit."

When it is completed, more than 22 religions recognized by about 1,000 inmates will be able to use the chapel, Chaplain Oscar Gomez said.

Hutchinson prison officials began talking about building a chapel about six years ago after correctional facilities in Ellsworth, El Dorado and Oswego built and opened new chapels within the past decade. Warden Don Schnurr said faith can change people, citing the Spiritual Life Center at Ellsworth, which in the center of that prison's campus.

Inmates there told him "that it changed the culture of the institution," Schnurr said. "It lifted it and made it brighter and turned the focus from negative behavior to positive. We can't build a new building in the center of our main buildings but hopefully it will become the focus."

The new chapel will be in a nearly century old gymnasium and auditorium where maximum security is enforced. The work will include installing bathrooms, an elevator, areas of offices and storage and a sound system.

"Seeds of faith need time to germinate, and the Spiritual Life Center is a place for the seeds of faith to germinate," Dechant said. "It will be a place for opportunity and a place for prayer and learning."

So far, between $300,000 and $350,000 has been spent for demolition and steel framing, Dechant said. Upcoming work on electrical, heating and air conditioning, the plumbing and painting will cost more than $400,000.

"We are not going to borrow money. We do it only as we have the money, and we are doing it by private donation," he said.

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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com