Concrete Work Continues at the Somers Congregational Church

This information was published in the Somers Congregational Church restoration news center on Jan. 9, 2013:

Rev. Dr. Barry Cass

Concrete work continues at the Meeting House.  This week you should see the front colonnade and piers for the columns at the front of the building and soon you will see the front steps.  The concrete for the front steps will eventually be faced with several inches of granite, resulting in the same look as the steps destroyed in the fire.  The new steps will have a shorter rise and a longer tread, in keeping with code requirements.  The granite blocks from the old steps were made unusable by the heat and water during the fire.  Pieces from the old steps will be used as decorative corner stones on the new building and may be used for benches on the grounds.

Work continues on placing conduit that will be under the dining room floor.  Once those are in place and finished the slab will be poured.  We are still waiting on an official easement from the management company that owns the Bank of America building so the work can be done to bring electricity from the pole in front of the bank under their driveway and to a transformer that will be installed at the southwest corner of our lot.  The work will be completed in just a day or two once the easement is in the hands of the state Department of Transportation.

Our construction timeline has not changed.  At this point the completion date for the Meeting House is late October or early November, 2013.  The drywall and framing contract has been awarded as have the HVAC contract and the Electrical and Lightning protection contract.  The elevator contract is being reviewed.  Bidding has been very competitive.

Work on the organ continues and the folks at Richards, Fowkes and Company report several stops have been completed, including the Great, Hohlflote 8, Swell, Gedackt 8, Spitzflote 4, Nasat 3 and Tierce 1 3/5.  Wood for the keyboards is being kiln dried through a rigorous process, to insure there is no warping once the organ is completed.

The Building Committee had a lengthy discussion about “value engineering” which is basically looking at the plans we have and determining if there are specific things that can be changed in order to lower costs.  The process includes many possible changes, even though some are obviously not things we would seriously consider, such as not installing stained glass windows, or leaving the floor in the sanctuary concrete rather than installing hardwood and carpet.  Some smaller changes can be made without affecting the overall look and feel of the project.  This is an ongoing discussion, though most decisions need to be made in the near future to avoid disrupting the construction schedule.  We will be talking with our acoustician about some audio visual component and with the kitchen designer about alternative appliances.  We are doing our best to balance cost against reliability, realizing that most of the things we put in the new construction will be there for the next generation of church members.

There is no word yet on when the settlement with the insurance company will be completed.  The settlement will enable us to know where we stand and allow us to begin a capital campaign to raise the additional funds needed to replace the Meeting House. 

The Building Committee continues to meet with the boards and committees of the church to share plans.  There is a schedule of presentations in the January issue of Highlights and in the church bulletin each Sunday.  Each committee presentation is open to anyone from the church and there will be an additional presentation open to everyone following the Community Supper on January 15.  We hope as many people as possible will take advantage of the opportunity to see what the plans contain and to share the vision of the new Meeting House.