You may have noticed the tulips this spring in the flower bed on the west side of the church building. They grew from forced bulbs that were planted in the spring, because we didn't get them in last fall.
The trick with forced tulips is knowing when to plan them. Once they come out of the refrigerator, they start growing and they have to be planted or they'll die. But once they're planted, they're subject to late winter/early spring weather surprises.
These tulips were tough. They survived two snowstorms and two overnight freezes and were looking beautiful by Easter.
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The building work group met on the evening of April 29 to talk about renovation of the Parish Hall. The group is composed of parishioners who represent smaller groups within the church who use the building for different activities. The intent is to take into consideration the needs of all of those groups when choices are made about the renovation of the building.
Last night the work group talked about the impact that changes in the Parish Hall would have on the Saturday hot lunch and the location of the electronic components of the carillon. We became aware of the need to keep everyone informed and to work with the various groups through the transitions and changes they will have to deal with when the Parish Hall is renovated.
We also became increasingly aware of the importance of renovating the basement area below the Parish Hall.
The work group's next meeting is May 13. Parishioner comment cards will be made available on Sunday and parishioners can also send ideas, questions and comments to the work group via email: smcbuildinggroup@yahoo.com
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Work has started on the replacement of the exterior doors of the church building. The new doors are being fabricated of mahogany. It's a painstaking process because each door is of different size and slightly different shape.
The door manufacturer is creating templates from each of the existing doors to serve as a pattern for the new doors. Work is also being done on the door jambs (the frame that the door sits in). Here are some pictures of the work in progress.
The west doors of the parish hall will be installed first. Right now those doors are not usable, but the new set will be and we hope that they will eventually become the "go to" entrance to the parish hall. The remaining doors will be removed and their replacements installed one door at a time.
In addition to replacement of the doors, masonry surrounding the door openings is being restored and several deteriorated doorsteps are being replaced. The masonry surrounding the doors will be tuck pointed and broken or damaged bricks will be replaced with vintage brick to match the existing masonry. New doorsteps are Indiana limestone.
The anticipated completion date for replacement of all of the doors is July 10, 2009.
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The building work group met on the evening of May 13 with all but one member present. There was a very lively discussion of how renovation of the Parish Hall could affect the work of Downtown Outreach.
One option is the creation of a multi-purpose room on the lower level below the Parish Hall. This room could be used for meetings, choir rehearsal, education, child care, a bride's room and a dining room for Downtown Outreach's Saturday hot lunch program.
There are a lot of questions about what would be required in order to make it possible to serve lunch on the lower level, with the kitchen upstairs. A preliminary floor plan and rendering have been created by Julie Arntson, an associate of Susan Richards Johnson & Associates, architects for the renovation project. Those will accompany an upcoming post on this blog. Discussion of all aspects of the Parish Hall renovation will continue. The meeting last night identified a nubmer of issues requiring additional research and observation.
The original drawings of the church building and Parish Hall created in 1886 by architect William Halsey Wood have been discovered and the Building Work Group enjoyed seeing them at the meeting. Some pictures of those drawings accompany this posting.
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As with any project on a building that has as much history as St. Mary's...you're bound to run into a little problem here and there.
Placing the new threshold steps into the Narthex brought some intersting facts to light. The most important being that the Narthex floor was being held up with little more than grit, spit and a whole lot of duct-tape...(well perhaps it wasn't that bad - however to quote the contractor, "If you had a whole wedding party, I wouldn't suggest they all stand in here at once or they'll end up in the undercroft").
So the Vestry did what any good Vestry does...they voted to approve funds which not only would fix the Narthex floor, but it would also provide a new structure underneath the floor to keep us all safe. In addtion the contractors will be adding a heated mat beneath the floor to warm you as you enter on those cold winter mornings. New tile...rip out some old plumbing that we don't use and quite frankly looked bad, and you got yourself a new Narthex floor that is lovely, warm and safe.
Not too shabby...not too shabby at all...
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