Bitter Cold Slows Down Arrival of Concrete

This information was published in the Somers Congregational Church restoration news center on Jan. 23, 2013:

Rev. Dr. Barry Cass

The bitter cold has slowed down the arrival of the concrete for a few days.  Fortunately there are several “contingency” days planned into the total build schedule, so the delay will not affect the overall schedule.  While waiting for the temperature to climb to an acceptable level, however, the crews are still at work at the site.  They are completing all the necessary work to have everything that needs to be under the slab in place so the slab can be poured in the near future. 

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Once the weather cooperates, areas that will be under stairways will be backfilled and the forms for the stairway concrete will be put in place.  In addition to the grand front entry stairways there will also be two stairways on the west exterior of the building: one an exit in the south west corner and the other an entrance exit to the new mechanical room in the northwest corner of the new structure.  All the work for drainage around the foundation has been done and there will be some backfilling done on the west side this week.

There is a need to run conduit from the existing utility room in the office wing to the new construction.  This will be done on January 25th when the office is closed.  This conduit will allow all the needed utilities (electric, phone, cable) to be connected to our existing service when everything is in place. 

The Building Committee has continued working with CHK and Petra Construction on “Value Engineering”; looking at possible changes in the plans that would lead to a savings.  Each suggestion (and there are over 20) is discussed, input is received from the architect, the construction manager and any other experts who would have pertinent input and a decision in made.  Value Engineering happens at this point so any changes made will not interrupt the flow of construction further along in the process.  The Committee has been especially conscious of how the construction will affect acoustics in the sanctuary because we want to be sure we can make full use of the organ being installed.

We have received a sample pipe from the organ builder so everyone can see the tin being used in their construction and begin to picture what the choir loft will look like with the organ installed.  

The Verdin Bell Company has let us know that casting will take place at the end of May in Cincinnati.  They would be happy to have anyone who is interested from the church view this first hand at their foundry, but they will also stream a video of the casting on the web.  The bell will be done by mid-June in plenty of time for mid-July installation.

The subcommittee on sanctuary furniture presented their recommendations for choir chairs, pulpit, baptismal font, communion table, flower and incidental tables and chancel chairs.  These were accepted with only minor tweaking.

There are a few final design decisions the Building Committee hopes to make next week in the process of finishing up the Value Engineering.