A No-Frills Warehouse Like a butterfly slowly emerging from its chrysalis our rear wing is gradually metamorphosing into the building we would recognize from those renderings we’ve stood and admired for so many months. Windows and the wood trim have been installed, an additional window to bring light into what will be our new accounting and finances offices is in the making and the moisture barrier’s white, plastic sheeting is steadily vanishing behind the rich tan-browns of the outside brick walls. But let me take you into the “belly of the beast,” deep inside the dark recesses of the rear wing, let me tell you what’s going on in there! When I was a young and impressionable lad my parents took the family on holiday to the Principality of Wales, for those not familiar with the geography of the United Kingdom that’s the bulge on the west side of Britain that sticks out into the Irish Sea, For a holiday treat we took a day trip to visit a disused coal mine that had been opened as a tourist attraction. I remember standing in an underground chamber illuminated by strings of hanging lights and surrounded by steel pit props (apparently the days of wood props and beams were well past – probably something to do with “health and safety”) for a young lad it was an awesome experience one I never expected to enjoy again. Well I was wrong, the rear wing might not be a couple of hundred feet underground but standing there in the middle of the building and surrounded by the steel frames now festooned with strings of work lights I was, for a brief moment in time, that young lad again! All around me the “It’s Electric Inc” electricians were pulling cables and installing the power sockets whilst above me in the rafters the “Atlantic Heating and Cooling” engineers were installing the duct work that will provide cool air in the summer and heat in the winter to the offices and meeting rooms below. And what of the front? The familiar face of our old building is now encased in the concrete block sheath that is the firewall, designed to prevent a fire in one area spreading to another. I have to say it’s not an appealing look, vaguely reminiscent of a no-frills warehouse, but not to worry for the firewall will soon disappear from view behind the internal walls of the Narthex. In front of that firewall the sand pad is now surrounded by the footings which will soon be supporting the steel frames that will be the Narthex’s and Great Hall’s walls. As you may recall from the rear wing’s construction before any framing can take place the concrete floor has to be poured (I feel a concrete pump in our future) and before concrete the utilities pipework has to be installed and that work is ongoing as I write. An orange excavator scarcely big enough to accommodate the operator, in sharp contrast to the yellow monsters that roamed the site for many weeks, is busily cutting the trenches for the utilities and already the first white, plastic pipe is sticking out of the sand marks the location of the future coffee dispensing station. Meanwhile another battle with the complexities of the existing buildings has been won with the electrical power restored to the Historic Church. And there’s more! A fiber optic cable has been pulled from the Historic Church Sanctuary through the new underground conduit, via the new roof space to the Administrator’s Office, and is ready to be connected to the network switch so the Church will, at last, have a permanent connection to the internet. Much more to be done and no doubt many more challenges to overcome but we are certainly on the way! Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach The Very Small, Orange Excavator
1 Comment
Mal Higgins
10/22/2020 09:45:47 am
The firewall is mighty stark in its grayness. Sort of sad to see the exterior of the 1990-1991 "new" parish hall disappear below its surface. So many parishioners were part of the then capital fund drive from 1989-1990 that let to its construction. This was when John Emmert was our rector.
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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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