Unless you’ve been living on some other planet since last December, you’ve likely heard countless reports about the reconstruction efforts in our Fellowship Hall basement.

A December flooding necessitated that we engage with a professional restoration and cleanup company. Flooring, lower portions of the drywall and some furniture were contaminated and ruined. To bring the space up to code mandated that we redo the French drains as well. As we engaged in these extensive repairs, we also decided to upgrade the outdated and inadequate overhead lighting. To keep water off the back patio, we undertook a small regrading of the area behind Fellowship Hall. This also involved the installation of some new gutters and underground drainage piping. OMG!

Engaging with the many contractors needed to complete this project to our liking was no small task. Most of these contractors are booked solid with lucrative work and our project, in their eyes, was a small, one-off engagement.

Although there are too many people to even begin to thank for these efforts, a special thank you must be given to Kelly Callen, Randy Blasch, Don Groce and Krishan Bralley.

Kelly had to wrestle with and manage a whole host of contractors to see the project through. (As an example, the painting company with whom we contracted decided not to show up on the scheduled day. Frantic phone calls had to be made to line up painters who could get it done in time for our ribbon-cutting ceremony.)

Randy had the thankless job of wrangling with our insurance company to see that our claims were addressed. It seemed as if every time he spoke with them, they had assigned a new adjuster to our claim.

Krishan Bralley and Don Groce were ever-present in the basement upgrading and installing the new lighting. They often had to squeeze their work in between other contractors.

We held a wonderful ribbon-cutting ceremony after our Ingathering Service on Sunday, August 11. Also, in attendance were the new owners and principals of the Premo School.

If you have questions regarding our religious education program’s use of the space, please contact Mike Chambers, Rosie Popp or Laurie Wheeler. They are leading this program until an Interim DRE is hired.

Also, if you have questions regarding the Premo School’s use of our space, please contact Kelly Callen as she is serving as our Premo School liaison. (We are kindly asking that all communications with the Premo School go through Kelly as it can be overwhelming and confusing for the school to hear different, and sometimes competing, needs from well-meaning members.)

We are excited to be starting this new year in such a beautifully renovated new space. It has been a monumental effort but…we made it!

Now it is time for our children, and the children of the Premo School, to grace this space with their presence as they learn and grow into our shared future.

 

Take care,

Dave