Congregation to See Church Plans

This information was published in the  restoration news center on April 3, 2012:

Reminder: There will be a special Church Council meeting Tuesday, April 10th at 7:00 pm in the trailer for a presentation by the architects of the proposed floor plans and exterior views for our new Meeting House.  This will be the only item on the agenda.

The architects will present the plans and views to the congregation on Sunday, April 15th after the 10 am service.

Update
April 3, 2012

The Building Committee has been working with the architects and is ready to share preliminary plans for the new Meeting House with the Church Council and the congregation.  The plans evolved over a few weeks as the whole team worked to blend the “must haves” and the “nice to haves” as well as suggestions received from the congregation.  Thought has been given to handicap access and necessary safety code updates.  On Sunday, April 15 the team from CHK Architects will make a presentation of the plans to the congregation.  They will also be sharing some drawings of the exterior of the building as it will look.  There is still plenty of work to be done, and there will undoubtedly be changes to the plans, but those shown on the 15th will represent the concepts that are becoming clear.  The Church Council will have a special meeting on April 10 to see the plans and drawings that will be presented to the congregation on the 15th. 

As announced on Sunday, April 1, the Building Committee has received the recommendation of the Organ Committee for the placement of the organ in the new sanctuary.  The Organ Committee’s report indicates there was much consultation with organists and other experts from outside the church as well as much consideration of a wide variety of information received.  Their final recommendation, accepted by the Building Committee, is that the organ be in the balcony in the same location as the organ was in the Meeting House before it burned.  Now the Organ Committee needs to choose a company to install the new instrument when the space is ready.  They are scheduled to make a recommendation about this to the Building Committee by May 1.

Work in the Bugbee Center is nearly done.  The last bits of painting are being finished, the new carpet and tile have been installed and remaining carpet and floors have been cleaned.  New plumbing fixtures have been installed as needed, and cabinets, doors and locks are to be installed before the end of this week.   Shelving for Champ’s Place is due to arrive tomorrow and to be installed as soon as possible. 

If all the materials arrive as scheduled and there are not hold-ups with installation, the Bugbee Center should be finished and ready to be given a Certificate of Occupancy by town building authorities by April 13.  This being the case, the plan is still to have the Community Supper on April 15 in the Bugbee Center.  A final decision about the location will be made before Sunday April 8 so we can make announcements as necessary in church that day.  PLEASE plan to attend the supper; it will be a great chance to see the restored Bugbee Center. 

Following the completion of the work in the Bugbee Center, work will commence in the Office area, Room 206 and the Care Center.  In those areas no work beyond the clean-up has been done, so there is wiring to be done, sheetrock to install, painting and flooring to be done.  The biggest issue in this area of the building is lack of heat.  Before the fire, this part of the facility was heated by the boiler located across from the kitchen in the Meeting House.  Since that boiler was destroyed there is no heat and no hot water in the office area.   In order to be allowed to use the offices heat and hot water will have to be distributed to the rest rooms on both the first and second floors.  We have an engineering firm working on a design for a temporary system with a boiler located in the first floor lobby.  Once this plan is approved and the boiler is installed we will be well along the way to receiving a Certificate of Occupancy for that part of the facility.

The Memorial Garden Committee went to work shortly after the fire to clean up the garden.  They did necessary work to keep it safe through the winter and to minimize damage.  Now that spring is here they are doing more extensive work on the flower beds and to restore shrubs and plants in and around the garden.  Because of construction of the new Meeting House, there will be little to do in the west lawn.  Once building is complete a landscaping plan will be designed for that area.  There is debris in the flower beds that is being removed.  Most of the area will probably be mulched in the near future.  On Saturday, March 7, there will be a crew in the Garden working from about 8 A.M. on and they would welcome help.

There have been more fund raising events in the past couple of weeks.  We are grateful to our friends at Blair Manor for the successful spaghetti supper there on March 31, and to Rick Sylvester who was the evening’s entertainment.  The Somers business owners had a successful silent auction recently as well, and our friends at Evergreen also had a fund raiser.  The teachers at Stafford High contributed funds raised through the dress down days to the church building fund.  We are grateful for all these efforts, and to all the groups and individuals who continue to contribute to the building fund.  We urge members of the church to support these businesses and groups, not just for the fund raisers but in general.