BACKSIDE PHOTOGRAPH MAY 1, 2002

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2002:  SNAFU:  Electricians preparing to connect the range in the kitchen find that the range requires 92 amps.  The circuit is only wired for about 65 amps.  The wire requirement is #3, the wiring in place is #6.  There is not enough room in the conduit for #3 wire.  Also, there has been no provision to plug in  the 230 volt serving table now in the old fellowship hall.  At about 9:30, the electricians were installing a plug strip above the kitchen  counter.

FRIDAY, MAY 3: Floor covering is coming along well.  The scheme seems to be green:  Most of the carpet and tile is green.  The main entrance lobby at the office has a 24 inch hardwood border which will surround a carpeted center.  The parlor has a similar border of green carpet surrounding what might be described as herringbone green-grey center carpet.  The hall floors are green tile as laid now;  it appears that carpet will be laid from the stairwell to the choir suite upstairs.  The choir suite itself is tiled, but the robe room has carpet on the floor.

Elevator workers removed the old elevator yesterday and today; this will allow completion of the crossover door foyer, which requires that the old elevator shaft be removed.

Plumbers connected piping to the water heater yesterday;  the hot water system has a circulating pump and return piping which will present "instant" hot water at any faucet in the building.  Also in the hot water piping is a tempering valve which mixes hot and cold water going out to the faucets.  This allows water to be stored at a high temperature (160 degrees or so) and tempered to a non scalding temperature for use in the lavatories.

On the  east side of the site, the sidewalk adjoining the handicapped parking apron has been poured, and extended to connect to the new sidewalk installed by the city's contractor along Oak Street.

The electrician has chiseled out the block over one junction box, where the single gang plaster ring will be replaced with a double gang mounting ring.  This will allow installation of a 208 volt outlet for the serving table.  Wires can be pulled in the existing conduit and an additional outlet can be installed there.  Discussions with the electrician indicate that the range circuit, which is undersized, will be replaced with a new conduit and wiring, which will be recessed into the wall and will not show as an alteration.  Apparently the wall behind the range is not poured with concrete.

MONDAY, MAY 6:  NOTICED BUT NOT NOTED EARLIER:  The water coolers have been hung.

This morning the workers began removing the old elevator shaft east wall.  This will make room for the double doors upstairs and downstairs between the buildings.  The shaft is constructed of concrete block and is not filled with concrete, so the wall came out easily. The space occupied by the elevator will be turned into closet spaces.

In the classrooms, flooring workers were installing rubber baseboard above the floor vinyl and carpets.  The risers in the choir room have been covered on top and kick spaces with carpet.

The electricians have not yet installed new wiring for the range circuit, but the plumbers were blowing out the water lines at the various outlets to remove remaining air.

TUESDAY, MAY 7:  The old elevator shaft is still the center of attention.  The downstairs crossover door has been moved several feet inside the old building, so it will not be necessary to remove the shaft wall downstairs.  Dust curtains cover the doors to the rest of the old building, while workers convert the old shaft downstairs to a closet with a floor over.  The jack pole in the downstairs crossover opening has been removed.

The water heater has been turned on, and the water circulator.  In the kitchen, an electrician changed one receptacle to match the plug on the freezer, from 15 amp to 20 amp 120 volt.  Conduit has been pulled in the "attic" of the kitchen for the new range circuit as far as the hood;  from there it will be flexed down the wall to the range.

One worker was removing plastic protective film from the outside of the windows.  According to him, it is still necessary to clean the brickwork of mortar splatter.

The day care committee was touring the facility with a consultant.  Shortcomings include the fact that there is no doorbell on the Oak Street door.  The doors will have to be locked when day care is in session.  Also, there was discussion of secure locations for children's' medications, and a place to store car seats.  And there is no place for a sign-in table.  Refrigerators will be necessary in the nursery and kindergarten rooms.

SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2002:  A late night walk-through found the cross-over corridor open upstairs and the wheel chair ramp in place, but the elevator turned off.  Downstairs, a saw horse blocked the crossover.  The door framing has been installed upstairs; door framing for the closet occupying the former elevator space is in place.  In the parlor some furniture has been delivered.  The front door to the pastor's office was partially open.  The pastor's desk has been delivered.  In the robing room of the choir suit,  a hanger  rod and a shelf over it has been installed between the cabinets in the  corners.

TUESDAY, MAY 14, 8:00 AM:  A fence has been built around the transformer and plumbing house; posts and support members are in place for a fence enclosing the play yard.  These fences are vertical board "privacy" type fences.  Workers are scraping the brickwork with what might be described as straightened out hoes, to remove mortar deposits.  Inside, at the downstairs crossover lobby, workers are breaking out the brickwork of the old building to widen the hallway.  A remark of one worker:  "The mortar is mostly sand."  Upstairs at the same location, workers are completing the installation of gypsum board on the walls and ceiling, and in the new closets created by the removal of the old elevator.  In the front lobby, the carpet has been take up and a 1/4 inch plywood deck has been laid in the floor in its place.  Painters are at work in the rest rooms, apparently completing detail work.  An electrician is on the site, although his truck and driver has left by 8:15.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15:  At the front Walnut Street and Three Notch Street entrance, workers were occupied with a special project.  The Alabama Historical Society has provided a historic marker.

FRIDAY, MAY 17, 8:00 AM:  One worker was preparing a concrete form around the base of the sign; others were grouting the cap on the wall in front of the equipment plaza pit.  An electrician was reconciling the circuits to the actual circuit breaker listing in the panel.  Fire alarm strobes and pull boxes have been installed.  The carpet in the lobby has been re-laid on top of the raised plywood base.  At the downstairs crossover, workers were framing the door casing with gypsum board.  At the back, a fence has been erected between the equipment area and the playground; the fence around the playground has been almost finished.  There will be no gate at the building in this fence.  The front lawn is wet, a result of operation of the irrigation system; overcast skies indicate that there may be some natural irrigation in the offing.

3:30 PM:  Furniture - some of it used - has appeared in at least one classroom.  The wiring for the range has been completed.  Wall around the upstairs crossover door has been completed.  The architect fumbles around with the call button cover plate at the elevator.  The plate is slightly crooked, and installed on a concrete block background, the appearance of skew is accentuated.  One feature on the water heater is a "trap primer:" a valve which releases a small amount of water when there is a fluctuation of water pressure, such as the opening/closing of a faucet.  This water is directed into the floor drain, to ensure that the trap in the drain is filled with water, preventing  flow of sewer gases into the occupied space.  There is a gate in the front wall of the equipment plaza pit, but no steps down the ten feet or so to the plaza floor.

MONDAY, MAY 20, EARLY AFTERNOON:  Workers are hanging the doors at the downstairs crossover.  One worker is forming and pouring the caps for the gate posts at the north entrance.  Electricians are hoping to get out today; however, there are two light fixture boxes at the north entrance which have no fixtures on them.  A painter with a small mall bucket is touching up the walls;  the rail along the wall of the inclines was sticky earlier this morning.  A moving van is leaving after having delivered two Yamaha baby grand pianos. One is in the choir practice room; the other in the fellowship hall.  The costs of these instruments were something over nine thousand dollars, for the piano in the practice room, and over ten thousand dollars, including padded cover and wheels, for the one in the fellowship hall.   The parlor has received wallpaper, and the electrician was installing a fire alarm strobe there.  Another electrician was installing an exit sign at the crossover door.  There is still some finished flooring to go down at the crossover foyers upstairs and downstairs.

According to the superintendent, there will be some refurbishing work on the old building.  The nature and extent of that work  is not yet clear.  The last major renovation on that building was about ten years ago, and included repairs to the bell tower, pigeon screening, painting, air conditioning  replacement, and the new electric service.

THURSDAY, MAY 23:  Lighting fixtures have been installed at the north entrance.  Wall cabinets are being installed in the pastor's office.  One worker was fitting locking hardware into the steel fire doors at the downstairs crossover.  The lay in ceiling is not complete here nor is the area painted.  At noon, workers from Servepro  (the company with the lime green trucks) were on site.  These workers specialize in cleanup services:  Scraping paint off and washing windows, sealing and waxing floors, vacuuming carpets, etc.  The floor of the choir suite has received a sealer; all tile floors will receive a sealer and two coats of wax.  The sales representative was scraping paint off the edges of the glass around the inside lobby door (the old front door) with a scraper having a 1 1/2" single wide razor blade.   He noted how remarkable it was that the contractor was able to salvage the old front door and frame and install it in the new building.   This crew, interestingly, was the first observed that had women.

The following notices were printed in the weekly bulletin:

"If all goes according to plan, the church staff will move into the new facility
Wednesday, May 29. Due to the church office being closed Monday, May
27, in observance of Memorial Day and the move on Wednesday, First Beat
will not be published next week."

"A Day of Great Celebration

                             June 9, 2002

The Lord has surely and richly blessed us with the expansion of our
church. Sunday, June 9, promises to be a day of great celebration. Our
Bishop, Rev. Larry Goodpaster, will be the guest preacher during our
morning worship service. Following the worship service we will enjoy a
covered dish lunch together in our new Fellowship Hall. The church will
supply the meat, drinks, and bread. To avoid duplication please follow
these suggested guidelines based on the beginning letter of your last
name.

 A-H bring vegetables, I-P bring desserts, Q-Z bring salads (fruit, congealed, tossed,  pasta, etc.)

Our goal is to have 300 in worship and for the fellowship meal. If you and
your family aren't here, our celebration will not be complete. Come, share
the joy of the goodness of our Lord as we consecrate our new facility."

An aside note:  The council has voted to open a day care facility with accommodations for twenty-four toddlers and infants.  They also voted to hire a full time janitor (40 hours per week) with compensation of slightly under $20,000 per year plus weddings and special occasions.

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 7:45 AM:  The pastor and the superintendent are in discussion at the front of the old building, looking up.  The wooden louvres in the old building are the apparent subject of attention.  Downstairs, the doors between the building have been hung and their hardware installed; the electrician and an alarm system worker are working on the alarm system.  Upstairs, sealer has been applied to the floor, as far out as the upper stair landing.  A walk-through by the pastor with the new janitor is scheduled for later today.

SATURDAY, MAY 25:  Yesterday afternoon, the superintendent related that while he was at an OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) briefing, someone had tracked in on the newly sealed floors.  "I locked the doors, I put signs on the doors that said: 'Cleanup in progress, please do not enter.'  But the workers propped the front doors open, and someone came in from the front.  .  . . Oh well, these things happen.  .  .  ."

Friday afternoon also saw much activity involving cleanup of the back lot (across Oak Street).  The tool chest, four feet wide, four feet high and three feet deep, with locks, bearing the painted insignia "DANNY W," which had been moved about the building was loaded into the semi-trailer which has served as a warehouse.  Instructions were given to take the plastic pipe left over to the contractor's storage yard.  Several truck loads of debris, including broken pallets, masonry pieces, and general trash were hauled away to the land fill.

This morning Academy Street was swept clean and open to traffic, although  lime green vehicles belonging to the cleanup contractor  were parked, pointing the wrong way, at the north entrance to the building.

Noted but not mentioned earlier:  The choir suite has a full compliment of chairs in place on the risers.

MONDAY, MAY 27:  The pastor's books have been moved to the new office;  his computer and furniture remain in the office at 200B East Walnut Street, pending completion of telephone and cable connections at the new office.

Commentator's note:  It has been brought to the attention of the commentator that the "used" furniture mentioned on an earlier date was, in fact, "fine antique" furniture.

  At 8:00 AM, a Ford pickup truck was in front of the office at 200B East Walnut Sreet, loaded with furniture and machines to be hauled to the new building entrance around the corner.  Kent Dendy arrived shortly thereafter with a gurney to carry the copy machine to its new home.  Jim Colley, who apparently had not driven a pickup recently took the wheel of the truck and jounced the vehicle to the drive-thru door.  The furniture on it was non the better for the wear, as it had jostled about on the short trip. But it appeared to be essentially unharmed.  The copy machine was pushed on the gurney to the new building, and into the hall.  Office chairs from the pickup truck were used as dollies to transport the computer equipment to the elevator and up to the office.  In the office, new furniture had not yet been fully assembled, but was scattered about.  The office will have three L-shaped desks.  Later another desk was brought over on the gurney, but would not fit in the elevator without being turned on its end.  Upstairs, "Boy" Motes was installing telephones in the office system.  The promise was that the Bellsouth representative would be in "between eight and twelve" to connect to the service lines.  Asked if there were any telephones for the old building, Mr. Motes stated that there was one, which would be just inside the door at the old elevator lobby.

   This is the view into the pastor's office, which was "moved" Monday.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Dr. Tommy Duke and helper unload a computer desk from the pickup at the back door.

Workers are still at the site,  finishing ceiling tile installation at the elevator lobby and ctrossover lobby.

By late afternoon, the room of the Joseph Mitchell Class has received a desk, a map stand, and two very comfortable chairs.  One other classroom (the northeast corner room) has also received a desk.  Word is that choir practice will be in the sanctuary tonight, as the piano in the music suite has not been tuned.

THURSDAY, MAY 30:  An afternoon rain has cooled everything off.  An observation from the upstairs classroom window is that there is a lot of water coming off the crossover corridor roof, particularly at the corners and the point of junction with the old building.  A 4" PVC pipe carries water from the downspout of the old building to a point near the exit gutter; however, the valley water comes down hard on the kitchen roof below.  On the east side the outflow is onto the concrete equipment plaza floor, and is pretty much harmless, but on the west side there may be some erosive effect on the roofing material; or will there be?

The pastor, secretary, and financial secretary are in conference in the pastor's office.
In the connecting foyer upstairs, there is one worker with sheet rock putty and a putty knife.  Three more are downstairs.

It will be necessary for the city to raise or re-contour the streets at the corner of Academy and Oak, since the storm sewer intake at that location is higher than the street gutter.  Even before the heavy rains, there was a flow of water from the spring at the front of the building.  This flow is now directed via pvc pipe to the curb of Academy Street east of the building's north entrance.  The drain prevents water from entering the basement of the building through the front wall.

According to workers on site, the gates on Oak Street will probably be removed tomorrow, opening that street to thru traffic for the first time in a year.

FRIDAY, MAY 31:  At 7:30 AM there is a conference in progress between Charles Ingram and his workers concerning apparent ingress of rainwater along the transition line between the masonery and the stucco on the north wall.  A fork lift was being set up with a platform and workers with caulk were working on the problem.  In other business, the electricians have installed electro-magnets to hold the fire doors open and automatically release them in case of fire alarm.  A foundation and conduit has been laid for a walkway illumination pedestal at the approach of the front walk way to the steps up to the porch.  Some work has been done on the front door, evidenced by blemishes in the pull hardware.  There is still some painting to be completed and/or re-done in the crossover lobby area, upstairs and downstairs.  A discussion with the superintendent about the rainwater flow onto the kitchen roof from the crossover roof and valleys indicated that sometimes compromise is necessary.  "The first thing to go when cutting costs is the gutters."  The drip eave is, however, sheet metal covered.

There may be some more work related to the passageway into the round room from the upstairs foyer, and there are plans to rework the downstairs of the old building.
The dedication of the building is scheduled for the Ninth of June, with the bishop preaching the sermon for the morning service, and a meal in the new fellowship hall.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END SOMEWHERE, and with the occupation of the building, at least partially, by the church administration, so will this commentary.

An appendix is planned, which will, among other things, list the names of those who have worked on the building, and a disk will be available containing the commentary, some related pictures which, because of filespace constraints could not be presented from the web site.  A  final "back side" photograph is presented below.