Dirt is being moved on our property. We have received our building permit! Praise the Lord! Please be in prayer for the building process. Thanks to everyone one of you who have been faithfully giving to the building project. With the sale of our building on E. St. Francis, we have over $1 million in savings to be used for the new building! Thank you for your giving. If you would like to start a building pledge or give a financial gift, that will greatly help in the furthering of God's kingdom. Also, we are looking for people to help with some tasks for the new building.
Much has happened since getting our building permit July 29th. Heavy equipment started reshaping the property to get it ready for footings soon to be poured. Many yards of dirt have been removed to provide with a better base for construction. During this process multiple tests have taken place to assure the accuracy of the compaction and moisture content of the surface for assurance of a sound foundation. The grounds are being shaped for ADA acceptance, proper drainage and future landscaping. The drain pipes have been run from the street to the building and the forms will be in place for the concrete footings very shortly.
The contractors will be working Monday through Friday and Saturday’s if the weather causes delays. The church has formed a Hospitality Group that will be delivering snacks and treats every couple of weeks or so to the construction crew as a display of appreciation for their help. We hope to plant some large trees on the north end of the property soon to shield the noise and provide a beautiful northern view. Decisions will be made in the coming months for color selections, kitchen cabinet design, audio video specifications and much much more. You are encouraged to drive by and see the progress from day to day. During the month of September, the hope is to place all the concrete footings in place. Please be in prayer for good weather.
As you drive by the construction site you will see lots of heavy equipment, possibly some construction workers, a couple of work trailers, stacks of building materials and a large pile of excess dirt on the North end of the property. This pile of dirt will diminish to a berm four foot high on the east end and gently disappearing into the elevation on the west side approaching Elk Vale Road. The excavation for the foundation is complete, engineered fill material has been brought in and forms for the foundation walls are being erected at this time.
The perimeter foundation walls will be poured in four separate pours over the next couple of weeks. The Sewer line, the water line, the gas line and electrical lines have been run to the building location. Drain tile surrounding the foundation is in place and will be connected directly to the storm sewers at the street. When the berm is downsized to the appropriate size we will be planting trees along the north side of the land. After the foundation walls are completed interior footings will be poured to support the steel beams necessary to support the building structure. Underground plumbing and electrical lines will be set in place also before the floor is poured.
Initial designs for permanent signage along Marlin Drive are under way and our Hospitality team is making regular deliveries to the site to show our appreciation for the construction crew. Please feel free to drive by and see the progress.
In the last month a tremendous amount of progress has been accomplished. The exterior lower foundation walls have been completed. Foundation insulation has been placed on all exterior perimeter footings. Some footings for interior walls and structural columns are finished as well. Gustafson Builders will be finishing the interior footings in the next week or so. Underground plumbing for the bathrooms, kitchen and mechanical rooms are well underway. Electrical conduits have been run from the Transformer in front of the church to the necessary Mechanical areas within the church.
Most of the backfilling has been completed. The Building Committee met with the builder and the architect for the first of several monthly meetings at the job site. A group of volunteers for the interior design portion of the building have been briefed and have started making appropriate color selections. Some initial designs for a monument sign have been reviewed. Pricing and specifications for the audio/video selection options are being analyzed now. The enormous pile of dirt on the north end of the property should be hauled off shortly. The concrete slab will hopefully be poured November 3-8.
The church hospitality volunteers have been taking snacks to the workers as a gesture of our appreciation. We plan (thanks to Deb Taylor) to provide a lunch for the entire construction crew Friday, October 28th. Feel free to drive by or attend.
November has been a fantastic month of progress on our new building project; it’s starting to look like a structure! The concrete footings were completed as required. The concrete floor was poured in sections but is complete including the ramp to the sanctuary stage. The exterior walls are mostly complete as well as most of the interior partitions. The Thanksgiving holiday and windy conditions have slowed down this process a bit, plywood sheets are difficult to work with when the gusts are high but they have been forging on.
The Hospitality group has continued supplying snacks for the construction crew and the interior design group has made most of the color selections but have run into a few snags. The Audio Video system ordered soon. We have discussed the flooring options and need to finalize that soon and we will be getting started on the final kitchen design in early December. The Building Committee has monthly meetings with the Builders and the Architect to make sure everything is going as expected.
The project is pretty much on schedule for a May completion date. The huge pile of dirt on the north side of the property is rapidly shrinking now. If you stop by the site now you will definitely be able to see that it is becoming a reality. Our hopes now are that the weather will cooperate and that the roof will be on and shingled by the middle of February.
December has been a challenging month for the construction crew. The cold, the wind and the snow have all slowed the process a bit, but they have hunkered down the best they could working through the weather and adding in the weekends. They are still close to being on schedule for a late May completion date. If you drive by now you will see the building is really taking shape.
They have completed the steel work and are practically finished framing up the wood wall studs and sheathing. They have installed the roof trusses over the classrooms and the kitchen area and are starting to sheath the roof trusses. The design group of congregation members have selected the exterior finish materials and colors such as brick, stone, siding, roofing and trim and have asked for the architect’s approval. The building will look fantastic, these women have excellent taste and a real eye for perfection.
The construction crew is really enjoying working on this project and are proud of the work they are doing, they seem to be taking the work personal. God is at work here, too. They also are very appreciative of the snacks our hospitality group have been furnishing them. We anticipate January to be a very productive month as the building will really be taking shape and we are all very impressed to see how visible the building is from Elk Vale Road. Please find the time to drive by the project and see for yourselves the progress that is happening.
It has been a challenging month. Mother Nature has offered additional challenges for the construction crew to deal with including, shoveling the snow out of the building on a fairly regular basis, dealing with temperatures too cold for the machinery to function and also too cold for the crew too function and too much wind to safely carry materials, especially plywood.
Unfortunately the project is now a little behind schedule. However this dedicated crew has been putting in the best effort they can and have been working weekends to move things along. That being said there is still great progress. They have essentially finished framing in the interior walls and the exterior walls except for the taller walls around the sanctuary. They have applied plywood sheathing to the lower level exterior walls. They have built the walls for the taller hallways and have got most of the roof rafters and plywood sheathing installed for the lower level roofs. They will be building the exterior walls for the sanctuary soon and hope to have the roofing complete by mid-February. The steel work is complete and roofing is complete on the lower sides of the sanctuary. They are building the sanctuary walls last as they needed to complete the steel structures and wanted the adjacent lower levels completed for additional stability while constructing the sanctuary.
Please take the time to drive by and see the progress for yourselves.
It has been another challenging month, Mother Nature has again offered additional challenges for the construction crew. The good days have been very productive but the cold, snow and wind have continued to offer challenges. We are probably a little bit behind schedule but our contractors are giving us their best in all of their efforts. As questions come up we try diligently to get them answered so as not to slow things down further.
The exterior walls are now 98% sheeted in and the roof sheathing is in place for most of the low roof areas. The steel work, beams and trusses are pretty well complete and hopefully the next week or so should have the roof fully covered. Inside the interior walls are mostly framed up and the door frames are pretty much in place.
The rough plumbing for the bathrooms seems to be fully in place and the electricians are running conduit where they are
able to work. Exposed beams are in place along the long corridor and in the multi-purpose room and the acoustical versa-deck ceiling material has been placed down the corridor.
The building is really starting to take shape. If you walk through it now you will be able to relate to exactly what it is going to turn into. Final design for the kitchen layout is being worked on now.
Please take the time to drive by and see the progress for yourself, you will be amazed. Thanks to all the volunteers that have been and will be helping with this project as it progresses along.
This has been a great month for progress on the new church building. The crews have still had to work around troubling weather conditions but the weather has cooperated pretty well all things considered.
The exterior of the church building is pretty much ready for doors, stone, brick and siding. The Tyvek wrap is in place and the roof over the sanctuary should be ready for shingles by April first. All of the window frames are now installed and the glass is in most of those windows. The east wall of the sanctuary is being constructed, as are the two adjoining adult classrooms. The kitchen has been redesigned with a second door and the utility connections are about complete. HVAC ducting is being set in place and the main mechanical room has been sheet rocked to make installation of the furnace units easier. Carpet and paint color selections are about completed and the final kitchen design is set.
On March 19th a huge group of the church body visited the construction site after second service and was given a tour by Pastor Steve. There is a lot of excitement amongst all involved. Gustafson Construction is doing a fantastic job and they all seem to be taking extra pride in their work. The enormous dirt pile on the north side of the property has finally been removed and reshaped in first stage preparation for landscaping. If you have not had the opportunity to check it out for yourself at least find time to do a drive by or stop by the construction trailer, pick up a helmet inside and take a closer look. Thanks to all involved.
What a difference a month makes! The building is progressing well. On April 9, many church members gathered on the new site with Bible verses to write on the walls to surround our church with prayer and with His Word. What a neat experience to know our church is being prayed for and His Word will be "hidden" to many but will be a part in the years to come.
The building is closed in and sheet rock is being hung and walls are being taped and textured. Instead of just walls made by wood, they are covered with insulation and sheet rock and rooms are looking fantastic. The back wall for the sanctuary has been put in place. Soon the front doors will be installed. Concrete will be poured for the front. Electrical and mechanical efforts are in place to provide lighting, heating, cooling, etc. Shingles are on the roof and the exterior will be put on soon. Flooring will come along soon.
If you visit, you will notice a steady flow of workers coming to and from the building providing their expertise skill. Continue to pray for the building to move forward and the protection of the workers. Our target date to get in the building will be June 19! Thanks for being a part of this great work.
