Thursday, July 26

Before last Friday's torrential rainfall, the floors of the balcony were poured and cured.

And at the same time, the roof deck over the main lobby was poured and had time enough to set before the rain came.

The lower level was flooded by the heavy rain. Fortunately, there was no rain Saturday which allowed the dirt around the footprint of the building to dry out. So on Sunday, under a bright but hot sky, a planned tour of the building by members and spouses of the Church Council and Finance Committee went ahead as planned. The participants gathered after the last worship service and headed over to the new building.

Pastor Scott gathered everybody at the edge of the construction site for some introductory remarks. The lower level was too muddy from Friday's rain to allow direct access, so folks went as far as the "front door" of the lower level and from that point were able to see most of the lower level from a distance.

After climbing up a short ladder, the group gathered in the middle of the worship center space. Pastor Scott and Mark Glaeser pointed out details and answered questions.

Everybody was able to wander around the worship space and lobby outside the worship space.
















Some of the more ambitious souls climbed the ladder to the balcony level to get a great look at the space from that level. The concensus seemed to be that the new space is going to be A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Starting Monday, one of the major projects is the continuation of vertical metal wall studs. This is now being followed by the blue insulation panels on the outside. The building finally is staring to be closed in!










If you don't think that the construction crew is not making progress fast, this side was filled up with metal studs on Monday and Tuesday. Look at the next picture.



This picture was taken today, and notice that the outside already has been covered with insulation panels. Also note the scaffolding around the steeple base. This is in preparation for filling in the panels that will enclose the outside of the steeple base.

The electricians and plumbers have moved to the upper level and are busy running electrical conduit and plumbing pipes through the ceiling of the upper level.

Several things did NOT happen this week. The crew that was supposed to disassemble the big yellow crane on Wednesday was delayed in Coumbia, SC. The crane is now scheduled to disappear early next week. Due to the flooding from the heavy rain in the lower level, the concrete floors were not poured in the lower level. Hopefully the rain will hold off enough to accomplish the pour for the floors next week.

We are only about 3 to 4 weeks away from seeing brick walls starting on the outside!

The roof line has really filled out this week! And many thanks to Sue Castelloe who has adopted the fountain plaza garden as a personal project. The flowers this summer are beautiful thanks to her efforts!




Thursday, July 19

Long before construction actually started, the Church Council set in place a structure for careful oversight and control of the process. They tapped the experience of one of our church members to be the chair of an ad hoc building committee.

Ken Ostien retired to our area after over 30 years of experience with a large architectural/engineering/construction company in Boston. He has managed construction of airports, power plants, military weapons sites and refineries in addition to buildings. He graciously volunteered his expertise to be the key person in the oversight process for the construction on behalf of the church. Ken visits our construction sight frequently as well as other Edifice construction sights to gain insight regarding upcoming events in our construction. He attends the biweekly construction meetings and reports to the Finance Committee and Church Council periodically.

 Also on the committee is Robert Bugg. Robert is a member of the Church Council and is the liaison from Council to the construction project. He owns a property development company.

The third church member on the board is Tim Smith. Tim is a former President of the Church Council and is a structural engineer by profession.

The remainder of the committee is Senior Pastor Scott Suskovic, Minister of Music Mark Glaeser and Business Administrator David Bigham. This group monitors the progress of the construction, attends the construction meetings, makes decisions on building changes with the approval of the Church Council if necessary and reviews and tracks the costs of the building and associated contracts.

Now back to the building! The VERY long vertical wall studs continue to be set in place.

In the lower level, masons are busy laying concrete block for the foundation of the interior walls. 

Maybe it sounds funny to get excited about a corner in a wall foundation, but it means that "rooms" are starting to take shape!

The floor of the Upper Commons (the lobby outside the worship space) was poured. There will be some rooms at each end of this space on both sides, but this will be a long, wide gathering space in spite of that.

And in the worship space...........

And finally, some views from the balcony!

 

The roof over the Lower Commons (the main lobby) will be concrete since several air conditioner units will sit on it. The schedule calls for the concrete in the balcony and on this roof by the end of this week.





Well, as long as we are on the roof, may as well take a great picture looking towards our existing buildings!

As we end this week with a view of the building with a wonderful summer sky, take your last look at the big yellow crane during the next several days. It's scheduled to be disassembled and hauled out of here next Wednesday!

Thursday, July 12

During some weeks of construction, it may not seem like any big, spectacular things are happening. This has been one of those weeks. But don't believe for one minute that progress is not being made!


Electric conduits continue to snake through the lower level. Inspection of the electrical work was due this afternoon.

Plumbing pipes in the lower level are just about complete. We are not quite "flush" with excitement as yet, but we're getting there.....





















Some of the structural work this week has been in places that you cannot see.

Some of the guys have been busy up on the catwalks under the roof canopy out of sight.

In spite of the rain this week, the last foundation wall enclosing the service drive and air conditioning chiller pad on the Mammoth Oaks Drive side was poured.

OK, it may not be terribly exciting, but the floors of the stair landings for the two big staircases inside the main entrance were set.

It may not have been readily visible from the parking lot, but the process of installing vertical aluminum studs in the exterior walls started.

The start of exterior walls being formed is exciting!

Trusses around the bottom of the steeple base started to fill out the final shape.

Triangular trusses were set along the edge of the roof line which helped the final shape emerge.

And there was a lot of activity inside the worship space. This picture was taken from the balcony level looking toward the chancel.

And finally this week, some things appeared that are forerunners of some exciting things coming next week. Such as the stacks of light-colored rectangular insulation panels stacked in the chancel area. That means some "solid" walls will appear next week.

And late Thursday afternoon a truck arrived with a delivery on concrete block. This is for walls in the lower level. Rooms will start to appear!

So if you drove by this week and thought that not much was happening, just look at the long list of activities that actually WAS happening this week!











Several weeks back, we introduced you to Al Barr who is the site superintendent for Edifice Construction. This week, we are highlighting Jeff London who is the project manager for Edifice. Jeff is the interface between Edifice and the many subcontractors and materials suppliers for our construction. He also is the problem solving guy when questions arise about construction design or materials. He chairs the owner-architect-contractor on site every two weeks and makes regular visits  at other times as well. Jeff has been a guest with the Church Council and Lutheran Men to talk about the project and is scheduled to speak to the JOY Fellowship this fall. We are bless to have his experience and leadership on our job!

The big word for the past week has been CONCRETE! The concrete floor in the chancel area, main worship seating area and lobby are being poured. The lower level lobby and youth area will be poured after the upper level floor are complete.

Plumbers and electricians continue to run pipes and conduit in the lower level of the building prior to the pouring of the concrete floor.












On the Mammoth Oaks Drive side of the building, workers are completing the forms for a concrete retaining wall. This retaining wall is part of a service driveway and concrete pad for the air conditioning chiller that will serve the worship space.










This is a view from the upper lobby outside the worship center overlooking to the main lobby on the first floor. This gives you some perspective on the soaring ceiling in the main lobby.