Turn your back for a few days and, like a magician’s sleight of hand, when you turn back all those tricky challenges have been overcome and, as most will by now know, ODEC can occupy all its new spaces. It might not be the end but with the work recently undertaken in the courtyard (more on that below) it very definitely is the end of major construction. So let’s do a quick recap of what happened during those carefree summer days when the Beaches were roaming around the Great Lakes.
As my old drill sergeant used to say, “I left you in this position!” (actually, it was more of a manic bellow with a bull like quality) and from a blogging perspective I also left you in "this position" waiting, no doubt with baited breath, to learn the eventual outcome of the fire alarm inspection, the plumbing inspection and the building inspection to name but a few of the litany of inspections new buildings need to pass before they can be occupied. I’ll not inflict the whole drawn out saga on you, in part because I was far-far-away and, thankfully, don’t have firsthand knowledge but also because it doesn’t make very exciting reading (and let’s face it this blog can be quite dry enough without including dull topics). A few words on the fire alarm inspection. Some may recall my own close encounter with the fire alarm installation guru and his endless tirade of demands all of which needed to have been met yesterday if we were to avoid a fire alarm inspection disaster. To satisfy these endless demands telephone lines had to be installed, telephone service arranged, a monitoring service set in place, rooms had to be numbered, occupancy signs posted and fire doors that did not open to the required minimum 90 degrees were re-engineered to be compliant. Even with all of this, and an extensive fire alarm testing schedule that drove the office inhabitants to distraction, our guru still had concerns but in the event the inspection found no issues and with that our new fire alarm system became operational. At some meeting, now lost in the mists of time, we decided to swap out the inset bathroom sinks for the stylish drop-in look (to my recollection this was probably more to do with inset sinks not working with veneer counter tops but that might be a red herring). Once installed everything looked great to everyone’s eye except that of the plumbing inspector and unfortunately it was his “eye” that really mattered. When we swapped the inset for a drop-in style we raised the height of the sink by ½ inch and raising that sink by ½ inch really sunk us because now we do not comply with code by that ½ inch! So, it was with no small degree of trepidation that Scott hosted the City Building Inspector in the knowledge that our non-compliant restroom sinks had the potential to torpedo our occupancy application. As the Australians say, “no worries,” the Inspector was guided, faultlessly, through his inspection by Scott and with a commitment to address the errant sink issue (our word is our bond after all we are a Church) occupancy was granted and, as they say, “we are good to go” and we have the email to prove it. Just to round out this part of the story, along with commissioning the fire alarm, the audio/visual system in the Great Hall and the Old Church is now fully operational as are the security cameras and the keyless door entry system. Enough of looking backwards, what’s the breaking news? Well, a couple of weeks ago, and evidently to the dismay of a neighbor who saw the aerial acrobatics as a threat to his airspace, Scott hired a crane to elevate his little Bobcat multi-purpose excavator over the new rear wing and into the courtyard. In the ensuing, Scott inspired mayhem the broken and uneven concrete floor in the courtyard was ripped apart and transported by said crane back over the rear wing and into a waiting dumpster…..in the process coming previously close to that disputed airspace but no matter, by the end of day, the demolition job was complete, and peace returned to the neighborhood. Step forward to last Thursday and there, nestling on its four stabilizers in the cool of the early morning is my absolute favorite machine…….the concrete pump all lined up and ready to deliver concrete for the new floor in the courtyard. Over the preceding couple of days all the organic matter has been removed, electrical conduit serving the Day School re-routed from wall to underground and, most important of all, down pipes installed to take rainwater directly from the roof and into the central drain so the area doesn’t flood in wet weather. Those avid readers of this blog (and I know of at least one albeit my wife and at that under duress!) may recall the concrete spreading exploits of the “Bueno Wellie Team” who smoothed the floors for the Great Hall and rear wing, well this time that level of effort and expertise was generously donated by Experience Concrete Design, a company owned by one of our parishioners who also donated the new concrete patio between the Day School entrance and the Narthex. Over the past 20 months I’ve seen more than my fair share of concrete spreading, that big old pump growls and gurgles before sucking concrete out of the hopper and through a pipe, poised (in this case “just”) over the roof of the new wing before delivering its contents in what one might call a “splash” onto the recently cleared ground in the courtyard. The endless gush of concrete has to be wrestled by the Experience Concrete Design team into the furthest corners of the courtyard gradually working their magic back to the door. It is “steamy” in a courtyard bereft of any breeze and it takes no small amount of brawn and skill to cover the area. The result is magnificent, we are blessed with a smooth expanse of “brushed” concrete running from wall to wall and deftly contoured down to the central drain. I’m happy to report the courtyard is ready for service! Looking ahead to what is to come. With the end of construction, we enter what I would call the “fitting out” phase that includes items such as the cabinetry (altar guild room, library and display cabinets in the Narthex), some furnishing (chairs for the great hall, coat racks, etc), display monitors for the Narthex, a new telephone system and the inevitable “snag list*” to resolve (there I go sounding like I’m completely au fait with these construction terms) . Still much to do but so whilst it might not be the “end” I think it’s reasonable to say it is the beginning of the end!! Stay safe and stay healthy, David. “Snag list”: Brit speak for a punch list…….still none the wiser? list of items that need to be addressed before a project can be deemed complete.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
|