I think everyone “lucky” enough to have been working in the buildings over the past many months will have grown accustomed to the sounds of hammers, drills, heaters, and various loud pieces of equipment – to say nothing of the humans – that make up the clamor of a noisy construction site, but this past week was a different kettle of fish altogether!
Mr. Thomas McCormick, the man heading up the installation and commissioning of the new fire alarm system, was in full testing mode. On the one hand a blessing because testing portends getting the system in service but on the other…….?? When the new system “goes off” three things happen; 1) there’s a high pitched “squeaking” sound, which would drive our canine and feline friends crazy 2) there are strobes emitting a brilliant white light that pierces your eyeballs and 3) there’s "the voice!" A flat, digital voice, no doubt a close kin to the voice in a lift* that announces the floor numbers. The fire alarm voice drones out a message telling you to “evacuate the building by the nearest exit – do not use an elevator,” I’m hoping Scott Crumley hasn’t sneaked an elevator into the building and that this is just a generic message! You may be thinking “well, that’s not too bad” and in truth for the first 5 or 6 tests it really isn’t but, and this is a big “but,” after a couple of full days testing it starts to drag on your nerves like finger nails across a blackboard (for that analogy I ask the older readership to explain to our younger parishioners who may have never had the opportunity to “enjoy” the fingernail across a blackboard experience). Although Gretchen appears to be smiling in the above picture in reality she is gritting her teeth as once again the announcement “evacuate the building by the nearest exit – do not use an elevator,” reverberates through the offices. The message “evacuate the building by the nearest exit – do not use an elevator” repeats over-and-over-and-over again in a flat, expressionless voice that for me served to drag up memories of learning multiplication tables in class by rote. It got to the point where I began to think “Miss Plumtree,” Class 4B’s intrepid teacher, would walk through the door and deliver a swift “ruler assisted” whack on the knuckles to a young Beach whose mind had wandered to pastures far away. I digress, the point is our new alarm is working and there’s only a few more things to be done before it’s fully operational, and then we will be one step closer to being able to fully occupy our new spaces. As if to remind us there is still construction work to be done the comforting sound of hammers ripping into walls returned to the site this week. On Wednesday our intrepid Facilities Manager, Matthew Improta, completed his preparations for the demolition work in Tucker Hall. On Thursday the Good Shepherd stained glass was carefully removed (it will be remounted in the Great Hall), and on Friday, Tucker Hall’s palladium window was demolished so one can now saunter directly from the hall into the narthex. Next week the hole, which was the window, will be enclosed with sheet rock and before long all signs of the window will be gone whilst at the opposite end of the hall (the end near the neighbor) the external double doors will be removed, the hole walled up and the enclosed space transformed into kitchen storage, and with that the last major construction activity will be completed. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach “Lift” Brit speak for an elevator.
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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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