Church Anxious for Ground Breaking

This information was published in the  restoration news center on July 11, 2012:

Every week we think we will be able to provide a definitive date for the ground breaking, but so far the press of preliminary work, approvals and negotiations continue to make that an elusive date.  We feel it is imperative to have the building “winter proof” so work can continue throughout the year, so we are anxious to get things underway.  It is our sincere hope that all the members of the church and anyone in town interested in attending will make the ground breaking a great celebration of commitment, faith and hope.  Watch this space for details. 

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As a less expensive alternative to creating a new tower bell research is being done on the possibility of procuring a bell that has been used in another church or facility.  As churches close or move to new buildings sometimes the tower bell becomes available for sale.  A bell company would be able to refurbish the bell, shine it up like new and place it in our tower.  One of the advantages of this is that a use bell would cost less than a new one, but in addition, this seems like a wise use of resources and would allow us to give new life to bell that might otherwise be scrapped.  This possibility will be carefully considered by the Artifacts Committee and the Building Committee before any final decision is made.  In looks, sound and durability there would be no appreciable difference between a used and a new bell.

The Fire Alarms system is being installed in the Office and Bugbee wings this week.  This installation is required by the Fire Code and the Fire Marshall has made it a requirement before the Preschool can occupy the rooms they use in the Bugbee wing.  The system being installed now will cover Bugbee and the offices, and will be expandable to include the Meeting House when it is completed.  Work will begin in the next week or two on installation of the Data and Voice systems in the offices and Bugbee wings.  This will include Wi-Fi in meeting rooms, classrooms and common areas and the phone system in the offices.  As with the fire alarm, data and voice systems will be installed for Bugbee and the offices and will be expandable to meet our needs in the Meeting house.  Sheet rocking and painting will be scheduled to begin at the conclusion of installation alarm and data and voice systems.

We received a delivery from Battison’s cleaners of all the things they had in storage since the fire.  There were table clothes, draperies, and even the clothing we had collected to share with Youth Challenge!  We also received several boxes of things that have been stored by ServPro.  Ladies of our Women’s fellowship were sorting and putting away items in storage from the Bugbee Kitchen.  Over the next couple of weeks the rest of what is in storage is scheduled to be returned to the church so that we can get a final sense of what has been salvaged and what still needs to be replaced.

By far the biggest job being continued is that of coming up with an adequate and accurate estimate for replacing the Meeting House.  Petra Construction continues to work with our architects and our Insurance Committee and the Insurance Company to be sure that the final settlement at which we arrive will make it possible for us to rebuild the Meeting House as it was with all the required code updates.  It is good that we have the skilled expertise of Petra Construction working with us and protecting our interests.