WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 5:00 PM:  The front wall has reached first floor level; the south wall at the equipment plaza and the west kitchen wall are within a couple of courses.  The level of the second floor is just about the same as that of the foyers in the main building, about the same as the second floor of the Crow building.  (The front steps will be high).  At the rear of the site, the building foundation outline has been excavated and rebar laid in the trench, showing the exact outline of the building, including the "bay window" on the south wall.  The elevator excavation has also been prepared for pouring, with rebar in place there.  The site electric panel has been moved from the old boiler room, but is still connected through the door, which will be covered as the wall goes up there.  Plumbing for the non-grease-trap drains has been glued up, and there is a stub from the kitchen, not yet connected, for the lines which will go to the grease trap.

BUILDING PROGRESS PHOTO TAKEN AUGUST 2

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, LATE AFTERNOON:  The outside walls of the building have risen to the upper floor level for about one half of the  structure.  The walls around the kitchen and along the boiler room and through the niche, to the side of the back door of the church are in place.  The top block for the entire wall is a lintel block.  These blocks, instead of being formed with holes through the block from top to bottom, are formed with three sides lengthwise (shape of a "U").  These are laid with the solid side down, forming a channel around the top of the wall.  Into this channel iron rod ("rebar") is laid on supports, and the channel is filled with cement, forming a single solid reinforced concrete beam which distributes the vertical load of the iron bar-joists which will rest on the wall evenly, as well as providing some horizontal rigidity (or flexibility) necessary to overcome stresses which may develop.  IN SHORT, IT TIES THE BUILDING TOGETHER AT THIS POINT.  Plumbing from the non-grease-trap drains is extended beyond the perimeter of the building for the south side; interceptors for the existing lines are in place but not connected.  Grease trap plumbing is about one section short of the building foundation line.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3:  Concrete footings were poured for the columns at the stairwell; concrete was poured into the lintels at the top of the walls, and into the blocks at the corners of the kitchen wall.  Plumbers extended the drain piping for the grease trap to the approximate location of the grease trap, at the southeast corner of the site.  The non-grease-trap drain has been extended to the existing sewer pipe and connected.  Much of the drain piping has been covered with dirt.  The iron has been laid in most of the remaining perimeter foundation excavations; bulkheads have been constructed at points of change in elevation of the footings.   Much of the day was spent preparing for the weekend:  Downspouts were given interceptors to prevent rainwater from washing across the building site. If dirt washes into the trenches already laid with reinforcing, the iron will have to be removed and the excavations cleaned out.  In the construction of the new wall at the niche, the downspout from the roof was cut; it has now been temporarily redirected to the floor drain in the lower equipment plaza on the other side of the kitchen; other downspout diversions were upgraded.  This involved several 20-foot joints of rigid 4" PVC pipe, with elbows and support arrangements.

MONDAY, AUGUST 6:  A breeze off the Gulf of Mexico brought tons of water Sunday and early Monday.  There was no work activity at the site.   There are spots on the site where water will have to be pumped out.  Late afternoon found a flow of water along the north wall of the building, even after rain had stopped for several hours.  It is likely that all iron in the perimeter ditches not poured will have to be removed and the ditches cleared of silt.  Whether the site will be dry enough to work Tuesday is problematical.  Mechanical excavation requires reasonably firm ground.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 7:  Iron in the trenches forming the south wall perimeter has been removed and the trenches have been cleared (mostly) of sediment washed in by the rains.  The bottom of the trenches are wet and muddy.  All excavation and clearing today was done with shovels with men wearing rubber knee-high boots.  The superintendent remarked, having bought boots for the workers, "that man wears size 16".  The iron in the elevator shaft has not been removed, nor has that in the northeast corner.  Rains missed the site today, although heavy showers fell in other parts of town.  The open trenches must be cleared of sediment and the iron cleared of mud before being replaced.  The weekend/Monday rains from Barry probably set the project back a week, considering no-work days and re-work days.  Barry may have been good for the peanut crop, but not so good for construction work.  It probably could not have come at a worse time:  A week later and the foundation would have been closed in.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 4:20 PM:  A base of clean sandy soil has been spread and tamped in the kitchen to a level 4" below finished floor lever; about 1/4 of the fellowship hall has also reveived the same fill.  The soil has been tamped with a mechanical vibrator to a smooth, relatively hard finished surface.   The rest of the site has been channelized and dykes constructed to direct water to the northeast corner; the perimeter foundation trenches have been cleared and a culvert installed across (under) the driveway on Oak Street.  The northeast corner is a catch basin, and has fencing to minimize delivery of silt into the street and storm sewer system.  Heavy, black clouds loom overhead;  there are rumblings of thunder and occasional flashes of lightning. . . .

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9:  Despite good weather in the morning there was no work done at the site.  The site is still wet.  Runnoff from the front has filled the foundation excavation at the northeast corner of the site, which had been pumped yesterday.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10:  X-Shaped rubber gaskets have been slipped down into the two expansion joints in the front foundation wall.  The northeast corner excavavion has been pumped clear of accumulated water; the iron has been removed from the elevator shaft base.

MONDAY, AUGUST 13:  Gasketing has been installed in the expansion joint in the north wall.  The lintel has been poured in most of the north, west, and kitchen walls.  Scaffolding has been removed from the outside walls and sand has been put in place and leveled in about 2/3 of the fellowship hall floor area.  At 4:30 a plumber was at the site to move a tractor which had been parked in the fellowship hall, "to get it out of the way."  The trenches are still very wet.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14:  With the exception of the break where the trucks and equipment pass the perimeter foundation has been poured, as has the floor of the elevator shaft.  One interesting note:  before pouring the last section, the contractor tied the elevator floor re-bar grid, the east foundation rebar grid and the re-bar tied into the earlier pours together with #0000 copper wire, to make the entire perimeter a continuous electrical circuit.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15:  Except for the gap in the wall on the Oak Street side, the remaining perimeter walls are all up to first (basement) floor level.  The elevator shaft walls are up to the level of the basement of the existing building, which will be the level of the elevator lobby floor.  Temporary interceptors in the plumbing have been replaced with permanent interconnections to the new building plumbing.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 16:  Floor drain fixtures have appeared in the kitchen; wall risers in the kitchen drains have been extended above fixture connection level and stubbed out at their proper locations.  A drain connection has been extended into the elevator shaft for connection of the sump pump there.  Dirt has been shifted to level the work area removind dykes installed in anticipation of last week's rains.  At 3:30 the superintendent, working alone, was moving earth with the tractor.  "Relaxing" he called it.  At 4:40, he was still relaxing.

SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 17:  A walkover of the site reveals that two pieces of copper plumbing have been installed at fixture locations on the east side of the kitchen.  Actually, there are three stubouts, a hot and cold water connection at what must be a sink location, and another stubout at what may be the dishwasher location. This is the first fresh-water piping to appear.  Two interior corners of previously laid perimeter blockwork have been taken out and forming has been partially installed to receive concrete which will apparently be footing for steel columns.  One of these aligns with a column foundation at the north entrance on the other side of the building; the other is about fifteen feet east of the first.  Both are in the south wall of the building.

The first floor of the building will have three levels:  The fellowship hall, kitchen, and north entrance foyer are at one level; rooms east of the north entrance are 8" lower, and the north-south corridor rises 30" to the level of the existing building basement entrance.  The elevator lobby is at this level.  Both corridors will be inclined to accomodate wheelchair users at the one-inch-per-horizontal-foot rate specified in the Americans with Disabilities Act.  These level differences are becoming apparent in the grading of the site.  Dirt had been leveled and tamped in most of the fellowship hall level Friday; rains since have left the site pretty wet, but there was no major washing.
Projections Friday morning were that pouring of the floor will begin Tuesday.

MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 20:  The superintendent has been relaxing again: Several yards of dirt have been moved from the interior of the site and piled on the west side of the front wall near the sidewalk.  There is still a steady stream of water in the foundation excavation at the front of the building.  Is there a leak in a water main under the street?

Vinyl sheeting and wire reinforcement grid have been laid over the western 4/7 of the fellowship hall; the Terminix truck was at the site today, and the soil under the floor area was treated.  It appears that the pouring of the floor will begin tomorrow.  In the northeast corner of the building, dirt fill has been applied and tamped smooth.

TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 21:  Footings for two interior columns were poured today, between the north-south corridor and Oak Street on the south side of the building.  Also, the elevator foyer area has been filled with dirt up to the base of the floor, and has been tamped smooth.  Part of the incline to the elevator foyer is being filled and tamped.  The dirt appears to have been hauled in, at least in part.  It is much sandier than the dirt on the site.  It tamps well and is not gummy.  It may be a mix of site dirt and brought-in dirt.  There is still water in the front foundation excavation, which has not been filled, although dirt is piled between the wall and the sidewalk.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22:  Footings for two (additional) main columns have been poured, both in line with those poured yesterday, that is aligned with the kitchen/fellowship hall wall as it would extend east.  The one to the west, aligns with the west side of the north-south corridor, in line with the west wall of the north entrance foyer.  The other sits at the east building perimeter, near the Oak Street entrance.  The west footing has an odd bolt configuration, as it sits astraddle of a sewer line.

On the south wall adjoining the existing building, the blockwork has reached the bottom of the sills of the parlor windows, which will be blocked over as construction proceeds.  Vinyl vapor barrier and reinforcing wire grid have been applied to the kitchen floor base.  In the northeast section, white powder (marble dust?) marks routes for the plumber's trenches.  Floor base has been applied and tamped in parts of the south rooms.

An excavation into Oak street, where, apparently, new sewer connections will be made, uncovered (cut) a pair of copper wires, about #8, with heavy rubber insulation and an additional braid of what might have been tar impregnated cloth.  These wires were under the concrete and brick street surface.  Was this part of an early street-light circuit? Troy did have pedastal street light fixtures prior to about 1950.  Normally, streetlighting used a "loop" system which would have had only one wire.  Was it a feeder from the old city power plant which stood a block away across the street from the diesel plant of the Alabama Water Service Co?  Direct burial of rubber-covered wire without lead sheathing would have been quite uncomon, though perhaps not unheard of prior to about 1950.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23:  The floors were poured in the western half of the fellowship hall and the kitchen.  Plumbers dug trenches and installed sewer piping in the northeast segment of the building.  According to the superintendent, the elevator lobby level will be poured tomorrow, the rest of the fellowship hall Tuesday.  The plumbers' trenches were still open at quitting time.  The trench into Oak Street had been covered without installing a sewer connection there. There is some deliberation as to whether to connect on Oak Street or Acadamy Street.

SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 24:  Three additional column footings have been poured:  One is at the corner of the kitchen/fellowship hall/equipment room, in the east wall of the fellowship hall, aligned with the south wall of the fellowship hall,  (the north wall of the kitchen) another in the east wall of the fellowship hall, slightly south of the center of that wall, and another in the west wall of the north-south corridor about 20 feet inside the corridor from the north entrance door.  These last two appear to be aligned north-south, and may be in the north wall of the east-west corridor.  The column footings now in place appear to define certain rectangular elements of the building. Also, plumbing has been installed for the rest rooms in the northeast segment of the building, and extended past the east building line.  A floor drain fixture has appeared in the equipment room adjoining the fellowship hall, elevator and kitchen.

MONDAY, AUGUST 27:  The landing at the elevator lobby and the first down incline section has been poured.  Vinyl sheeting and reinforcing grid has been laid in the remainder of the fellowship hall, storage room, and one of the south classrooms.
Conduit stubs mark the place in the equipment room of location of the main switch.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28: The floor has been poured in the remainder of the fellowship hall, and the south classroom which had been prepared.  The area east of the elevator corridor between the buildings has been leveled and tamped in preparation for pouring of a pavement there; there is evidence of an intake grate opening at this location.  The heavy copper wire connected to the steel in the concrete has been brought up to the electric panel location.  This will provide the required electric system grounding.

Although pouring the floor is the term used, there is much more than simply slopping the concrete in.  It must be leveled, which is accomplished by the use of 1" pipes supported by saddles carefully installed before the pour.  The pipes are laid horizontally in the saddles, and straight wood members are drawn over these to level the concrete.  The pipes are then removed and their trenches filled with concrete.  As the concrete cures, it is worked smooth with wooden floats.  As the concrete further  hardens, power-driven machines not unlike floor buffers with 5-foot diameter blades are used to finish the floor to a smooth surface.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29:  The south wall of the elevator lobby (the firewall) reached full height for the first floor, covering the windows to the former church parlor adjoining.  This includes two courses of block above the back door of the existing building.  The door remains as part of the corridor connecting the buildings.  This wall extends 1 1/2 blocks beyond the church wall at this point, then turns north.  The wall between the kitchen and the elevator lobby is only two courses short of full height.  A footing has been dug for an interior column along the east-west corridor, rebar has been laid, but no concrete poured there yet.  The ground has been prepared and forms installed for a walkway outside the south side of the building.  This will connect the utility door to the dumpster area.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30:  The east portion of the north wall of the building has reached the height that the location of windows is evident.  There are five windows in this section of the wall.  The wall has turned the corner southward.  On the south side, brick has been laid outside the blockwork.  The top block in the firewall adjoining the existing building has been filled with concrete.  A room has been enclosed between the kitchen proper and the elevator lobby.  This is obviously the location of the dishwasher, as there is a window opening to the fellowship hall.  The wall between the fellowship hall and the kitchen proper has risen to serving window height.  There are three new interion column footings poured; two at the stairwell adjoining the north entrance; the other, much more massive, at the east-west corridor.