With every passing week the building phase of the project draws ever closer to completion and now we are looking forward to the last major piece of construction by connecting the parish hall to the narthex and closing off the hall’s rear doors to create the new storage space for the kitchen, which will sit between the existing chair and tables stores.
The connection between hall and narthex will see the Good Shepherd relocated, more on that in a later blog, and the palladium windows, at the left end of the hall as you enter, removed to be replaced by drywall and a door frame for the doors leading into the main body of the narthex, which were installed on the narthex side some time ago. Those who have visited the construction will no doubt recall Scott Crumley’s delight in surprising visitors by opening those doors from the narthex side to expose what was the parish hall’s external wall and windows. That little game will soon be up! But this is all in the near future so let’s take a quick look back at the happenings in the week gone by. Pride of place for the past week goes to the installation of our new audio/visual (a/v) system in the great hall. Andy and his 3-man team from ONYX have been hard at work mounting the large shades and the new projection screen above the palladium windows. This was quite a feat, the tops of those windows are well above my “high place comfort level” (which in truth is not much more than a very small step ladder) and the equipment is on the chunky side of very heavy. To give you some idea of mass, the mounting brackets for the screen can easily support the weight of man – as Andy proved before attempting to lift and secure the screen in place. We also witnessed a successful projector test and heard the hall reverberate to the rich sounds delivered by the speaker system. There is some further system testing to be done and the interconnection between the hall and the Old Church to be established but the heavy lifting has, quite literally, been done! There’s also been a welter of small jobs completed including re-painting the nursery to give it more “child,” or more accurately “parent,” appeal, as well as the “green wall” in the new studio (this green wall is for video camera trickery rather than some bizarre designer impulse!). Along with the studio and nursery, the parish secretary’s office, so long the domain of Cheryl Sutherland, has been redecorated and new window blinds fitted throughout the rear wing as well as many windows in the “existing” building. The new cabinetry for the narthex restrooms, the coffee bar and altar guild has been installed but it will be several weeks before the display cases, the library shelves and the additional storage for the altar guild are delivered. Some new chairs, courtesy of Bill Waide, have been delivered and a large order placed with a company called MYLITE for the Great Hall’s chairs. Storage equipment for the band’s storeroom has been delivered and as soon as the new carpet has been laid all of our excellent band’s musical instruments and paraphernalia will, at last, have a permanent home! And there’s more: Mother Ashley has been hard at work researching equipment for the new nursery and that too is now in-bound to ODEC. On the downside, progress on commissioning the new fire alarm has been less than “dynamic,” but as I griped enough about this subject in last week’s blog, I’ll leave it there and hope there’s better news to report in next week’s offering. Before I end, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a, albeit belated, very happy “Fourth of July.” Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach.
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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
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