Goal is to Make Church Weathertight by Winter

This information was published in the  restoration news center on Aug. 1, 2012:

Rev. Dr. Barry Cass

The restoration of the Office wing of the church is at a point something akin to the diving we have been watching on the Olympics.  We stand at the ready at the edge of the board high above the pool waiting only for Green Construction to bring in their people and start work on the wall on the south side of the Office wing.  This is the wall that will be between the Offices and the new Meeting House.   Green Construction has been told to go ahead, so as soon as they mobilize, the existing wall will be removed, new footings will be put in place and a new wall will be built.  The wall will include openings for doors that will eventually connect the offices to the Meeting House.  They will be boarded up until the Meeting House is ready.

 Once the wall gets built, a temporary boiler will be installed in the lobby for heating the office wing to meet code, and work will move ahead on the duct work, sheet rocking, painting, flooring and the necessary alarm systems will be completed.  All of this will take several weeks to complete, but when it is done we should be able to receive our Certificate of Occupancy (CO) from the town.  With CO in hand, we will be able to move back into the office wing and resume even more normal functions. 

 As announced last week, the Ground Breaking Celebration is scheduled for 4 P.M. on Sunday, September 23.  The celebration will include scripture, greetings from some dignitaries and music.  There will be refreshments too.  Within a few days of the ground breaking, work will begin in earnest on the construction of the new Meeting House.  The process will begin with work to prepare the site and remove the remaining slab and foundation.  With those gone it will be possible to put in the new foundation, and then to begin to build the new Meeting House on top of it. 

 The Building Committee is still hoping that the Meeting House will be weather tight by winter, giving the builders the opportunity to work through even the most winter-like weather.   If this is possible, we are looking toward the completion of building and the dedication of the new Meeting House in September 2013.  Of course, there are many variables and there will undoubtedly be unforeseen circumstances and situations to be addressed over the course of the building.  Everyone is, however, committed to building in a timely fashion.

We have continued to work on completion of contracts with the Organ Builder and the Construction Manager.   Our attorney has provided some important guidance, negotiations have gone well, and we hope to have both contracts set by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

 Thirty-one boxes were brought back from the warehouse this week and have been unpacked.  Most of the contents were from the Bugbee kitchen.  Dishes have been washed and put away in the cabinets.  There were a few random items and several “save for the tag sale” items in the boxes as well.  The Women’s Fellowship made quick work of sorting contents and putting things where they needed to go.

The group working on selection of flooring, paint and other finishes met at the end of last week with representatives from CHK and are moving ahead with the selection of all the decorating items.  The board of Deacons will look over selections and offer comments at their August 8 meeting.  Final decisions in these areas will be made in the next several weeks.