The New Hall Has a Roof

This week a construction crane and a crew put steel sheathing over the steel frame of the roof for the new parish hall. The steel sheathing will support the weight of a slate roof to match the existing church building.

Kit Cone

Munchkins Breathe In & Breathe Out

Plastic pipe was installed this week inside the existing chimney to provide an air supply for the new Munchkin boilers, and also an exhaust pipe for venting the heating units. Two of these little boilers will heat the entire building, plus supplying domestic hot water. The Munchkins are so efficient that ordinary plastic pipe is used to vent them, because all the heat has been extracted from the fuel. The old oil-fired unit was vented through steel pipe covered in asbestos, leading to the masonry chimney. In the photograph above, workers use a crane to lower the assembled plastic pipes into the old chimney.

Kit Cone

Madison Day Care Returns to Grace Church

On Saturday, September 20, a small crew of Grace parishioners moved the equipment for Madison Day Care back to the church. MDC had been housed at St. Paul's Church in Chatham during the summer months, while asbestos was removed from the Grace basement, fire sprinklers were installed, new electric lights and outlets were put in place, and all the classrooms were painted. The result is a beautiful "new" classroom space! Madison Day Care and the Madison Cooperative Nursery School have swapped ends of the basement, and MDC will also have some additional space under the new parish hall when that construction is completed.

Kit Cone

Roof Trusses Are in Place

An unusual Saturday work crew put all of the roof trusses in place above the new parish hall on September 20. The metal trusses had been fabricated off-site, and were delivered ready to put in place. On Saturday a construction crane hoisted each triangular truss into place, and it was secured by workers balancing themselves on the top of the walls. In the photograph above, other prefabricated metal structural elements are piled in the foreground.

Kit Cone

Sheathing the Exterior of the New Hall

Plywood sheathing is being applied to the steel studs that form the three outer walls of the new parish hall. The fourth wall, which faces the existing church, is masonry to conform to fire safety codes. In the photograph above, it is possible to see some of the little details that are being included in the exterior façade to make the appearance similar to the existing church. In the foreground are prefabricated steel roof trusses, ready to be installed by the mobile crane which is visible at right.

Kit Cone

It's Starting to Look Like a Church!

With the rapid installation of steel studs for the exterior walls of the new parish hall, the exterior shape of the building is becoming evident. The steel framework is durable, fireproof, and goes up quickly. Plywood sheathing will be the next step on the outside walls. Visbeen Construction Company, the general contractor, hopes to have the first layer of the roof on the parish hall within a matter of a few days.

Kit Cone

The Parish Hall Walls Are Going Up

On Monday, September 15, carpenters started putting up steel studding for the exterior walls of the new parish hall. In this photograph the masonry wall that will separate the new parish hall from the existing building is visible to the left. The new studs are at far right. The angle bracing is temporary, and will be removed when the end walls are in place to support the back wall.

Kit Cone

New Hallway Lighting Is Installed

On Monday, September 15, electricians installed new fluorescent ceiling lights in the hallways on the main floor of the existing church. This improved lighting will be recessed into the new drop ceiling, and the fixtures provide more light with less electricity -- and therefore less money -- than the old style 48-inch lamps.

Kit Cone

Walls Form Small Courtyard

Shown above is a view of the courtyard formed by the former Madison Day Care classroom space, which is now occupied by the Madison Cooperative Nursery School, on the left, and the new parish hall under construction on the right of the photo. The picture was made from the roof of the kitchen -- directly above the Epiphany Chapel. At the top of the picture is the portion of the former exit driveway that will now be used to provide access for garbage removal and fire protection; it will not connect with the rear parking lot. The new poured concrete retaining wall and staircase are also visible.

Kit Cone

Parish Hall Decking Is in Place

The plywood decking for the new parish hall is in place. In contrast to the present Nieman Hall, which has concrete decking, the new hall has a much lighter deck made of manufactured lumber joists topped with plywood. These building materials offer a strong floor at less cost than the 50-year-old Nieman Hall.

Kit Cone

New Lower-Level Passage Taking Shape

As a result of a slight revision of the original construcion plans, a passageway is being created at the end of the Epiphany Chapel to connect the existing church basement with the new parish hall wing. At center in the view above is the entry to the passageway as seen seen from the inside of the new parish hall basement. Directly above it is where the new doorway between the parish hall and the kitchen will be located, and to the left of that is the doorway to the former main entrance to the church. Below, a mason works in the new hallway in the existing building. In order to retain the value of the large stained glass window in the Epiphany Chapel, visible at far left in the photo below, it will be left in place, and a huge picture window will be installed above the waist-high wall which will separate the hallway from the existing Chapel. This will allow people going through the hallway to appreciate the stained glass, while keeping it visible from the Chapel.

Kit Cone

Co-Op Nursery School Ready to Open

The space used by the Madison Cooperative Nursery School in the existing portion of the church has been completely refurbished, and during the past week the staff and parents of the Co-Op have brought the furnishings out of storage. All is now in readiness for the children on Monday morning in their new facility. Madison Day Care has been operating during the summer at St. Paul's Church in Chatham, and will be returning to Grace Church later this month.

Kit Cone

The Beginning of the Main Floor

As of Saturday, September 6, about half of the joists which will support the main floor of the new parish hall had been installed. The joists are made of "manufactured lumber," with wooden frames around oriented strand board centers. These joists are stronger than conventional solid-wood lumber, and more than half of their weight consists of reclaimed fibers from sawmills. In the photograph above, the wall that separates the new parish hall from the existing church is visible at left.

Kit Cone

Concrete Sidewalks Are Poured

On Wednesday, September 3, concrete was poured for several sidewalks and for pads where the church's garbage and recycling dumpsters will be kept, in their former location beside Nieman Hall. In the photograph above, masons screed the new walkway outside what will be the Madison Co-Op Nursery School rooms in the existing building. Below, the two dumpster pads are completed adjacent to the new access road where the former exit driveway had been located on the east side of the church.

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Co-Op Nursery School Moving In

The Madison Co-Op Nursery School is preparing to open next week in the space that was formerly used by Madison Day Care. Co-Op staff members were at the church on Wednesday, Sept. 3 to move furniture out of a storage room and into their newly refurbished quarters. In the photograph above, school director Laura Kushner looks through the store room for some needed furniture.

Kit Cone

Downstairs Rooms Progressing Rapidly

The classroom space downstairs in the existing church have been totally renovated as part of the construction of the new parish hall. The first big step was the removal of all the asbestos tile on the floors. New lighting fixtures with energy-saving fluorescent bulbs have been installed, the walls have been painted, and, as shown above, new vinyl tiles are being installed this week. This photograph was made in the former Co-Op Nursery area, which will now be used by Madison Day Care. At the other end of the lower level, near the bathrooms, floor wax was applied on Tuesday, September 2, to make the whole area sparkle! In addition to the present space, Madison Day Care will also move into some of the new classroom space under the parish hall when construction is completed.

Kit Cone