Here we are, the first blog of the New Year so my belated wishes for a peaceful, healthy, and blessed 2021! As always there is much to report so let us dive right in.
The Scott Crumley driven “construction machine” continued to “arc and spark” through the festive season with staggering results. Standing in the Great Hall to take in the progress I was once again struck by the “logic of a building project.” At the beginning there are one or two major sub-contractors on the site preparing the foundation for the new building. Then as the building starts to grow those original “subs” are replaced by an ever-growing army of different contractors and trades each adding their own ingredient to the construction. Then one day you turn around and realize there are framers, roofers, trimmers, windows installers, HVAC engineers, electricians, bricklayers, ceiling installers, painters, drywallers, plumbers and tilers to name but a few all plying their skills so let us take a “blogging” walk around the site to see what’s going on. Before we start, what do you have on your feet? One day we will have fully landscaped grounds with exposed agate concrete pavements*, I chuck in “exposed agate” like a construction professional which is far from the truth, but for the present we have a serious shortage of “terra firma” and what looks like firm standing suddenly metamorphoses under foot into a sea of clinging mud. I don’t expect I’ll ever see that old right shoe again, entombed forever in the mud between the great hall and carpark so, having learned a lesson I have once again become a “wellie*” devotee when wandering, unsupervised around the site!! The rear wing is starting to have that “finished look” about it. From the outside the only clue the building is still under construction is the labels attached to the doors and window glass. Inside the walls are painted, including an accent wall in each classroom in a color picked out from the soon to be laid carpets, the ceiling insulation is installed as are the light fixtures, switches, and power points. The hanging ceiling is being installed and the two, small restrooms (one for the new nursery) are getting tiled. Soon it will be time to demolish the narrow passage between the old library and the sexton’s office, which we used to use to get to AFH, so we can build a new corridor that will connect the new rear wing the rest of the building. That new corridor will have a significant impact on the old library because about a third of the existing space will be lost to create space to widen the existing passage. As you may know the library will eventually be installed in its new location just off the narthex, which will allow the remaining space in the old to be re-purposed at a future date. Staying inside the existing building the time has come to completely vacate the wing where Father Bob, Mother Ashley, accounts, et al have their offices so the old carpet and tiles can be ripped out, new carpets laid, and a lick of paint applied. So, for a while accounts and parish administration will operate from the ODEC’s open plan facility a.k.a Tucker Hall! Continuing our “jog” around the building site so, being careful to avoid quagmires masquerading as tera firma, let’s turn to the blogging spotlight on the great hall and narthex where it’s a veritable hive of activity. Most of the windows are installed, the roof is ready for shingles and the flat roof area for sealing. Heavy duty electrical cables have been laid between the main electrical room, located behind the sexton’s office, and the great hall and Atlantic Heating and Air is in the great hall’s rafters installing HVAC conduit accompanied in this high wire act by Its Electric installing the electrical systems. Outside the building a myriad of materials have arrived including the bricks that are already being laid on the outside of the great hall. That brings us to the end of our descriptive building tour by the day school entrance where a new, albeit temporary, exposed agate (there I go again with these building terms) access ramp has been laid and the columns for the new porch are being set in place. Behind the construction the relentless detailed planning process keeps two, and at times three, steps ahead of construction needs and has recently included visits to the site by our audio/visual and data contractors as they tune their installation plans against the real building. I cannot end without mentioning our own in-house planning team that takes care of everything from office moves, finalizing requirements for furnishing and fittings, interior design to display case allocation and last, but by no means least, our financial team who continue to find the funds to pay for it all. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach “Pavements”: Brit term for sidewalks. “Wellie”: Brit slang for a rubber boot, the term “wellie” refers to the Duke of Wellington, Battle of Waterloo fame, who commissioned his cobbler to make a high boot out of leather thereby creating the “Wellington Boot.” “Sandwich”: I haven’t used the term “sandwich” above but whilst I’m in the mood I thought I throw in the derivation of the word sandwich as a bonus. The sandwich as we know it was popularized in England in 1762 by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. Legend has it, and most food historians agree, that Montagu had a substantial gambling problem that led him to spend hours on end at the card table, hence the handy snack that could be eaten without leaving the game.
1 Comment
Jackie Murray
1/13/2021 05:03:59 pm
David: thanks ever so much for your construction descriptions and the photos. Personally, I really love your "Brit" words and the definitions you provide.
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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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