Progress on New Electric Service

A new electric service is being installed to the church as part of the construction of the parish hall. The former service entrance and main power panels were located in a utility pit under the narthex, which is often very wet and therefore unsafe for electrical equipment. Since the old panels could not carry the load of the new parish hall, a whole new service entrance is being installed. Shown in the photograph above is the new transformer pad, adjacent to the service roadway to the dumpsters on the east side of Nieman Hall. Power will come from a utility pole on Madison Avenue, underground to the transformer pad, and then underground into the building, entering through what had been a basement nap room for Madison Day Care.

Photo by Will Vandeveer

Service Entrance Ready for Paving

The service entrance to the east side of the new parish hall addition is almost completed. This roadway, which will not connect with the parking lot at the rear of the church, will be for use by the garbage contractor and for emergency access by the Fire Department. A stub road will be created where the parking circle used to be outside the parish offices, so that trucks can turn around before entering Kings Road. The upper portion of the service road, by the existing Nieman Hall where the garbage dumpsters will be located, has received a base coat of paving. The lower portion was disrupted by the need to install a new electric service, and on Friday, October 24, was being prepared for paving.

Photo by Will Vandeveer

Concrete Poured for Patio Foundation

On Wednesday, October 22, two big concrete mixers were at the construction site to pour the foundation for a patio at the rear of the new parish hall. The patio is a conscious effort to bring the church itself nearer to the columbarium where so many former parishioners are interred. It's a physical bridge, as well as building a psychological closeness. In the photograph above, masons are shown working on the "steps" of the patio; the reinforcing rod in the center of the new project will support a retaining wall. The new parish hall is to the right, and the columbarium to the left.

Kit Cone

New Air Conditioner on the Roof

On Tuesday, Ocrober 21, a new central air conditioning unit was raised to the roof of the present choir room by a large construction crane. The new unit will replace the ancient equipment that had provided some cooling to the chancel and front rows of the nave. The new equipment is much more energy-efficient than the old unit. The new addition at the rear of the church will have its own heating and cooling equipment in the attic, independent of the rest of the church.

Kit Cone

Relocating Our Mature Plantings

Landscape contractors working on the grounds around the new parish hall have saved many of the mature plantings by relocating them. In the photograph above, a small tree is relocated to the west side of the entrance driveway as it meets the parking area. Several others near the rectory and the parking lot have also been moved, saving the cost of new material and giving us mature plants rather than little sticks from a nursery.

Kit Cone

Backfill & Grading Are Taking Shape

The west side of the new parish hall, which will be the new main entrance at the rear of the church, has been backfilled and a first course of crushed stone put in place. The result, as shown in the photograph above, is that the entrance is now at grade, and it is possible to walk directly into the new parish hall through the openings where the doors will be located. Inside, visitors will enter a wide hallway leading either to the parish hall or through the old main entrance into the existing church.

Kit Cone

Our New Munchkins!

The two new "Munchkin" boilers that heat the church and provide domestic hot water are shown in the photograph above. The extreme complexity of the plumbing installation is evident in the maze of pipes above the boilers. Every little piece of pipe had to be measured, cut, and soldered, clamped, or threaded into place! The big white PVC pipes on an angle at the rear are the air intake and exhaust vents. The boilers are so efficient at extracting the heat from the fuel that there is no need for metal flue pipes to a chimney. The white cylindrical reserve tank for the domestic hot water is visible beside the left boiler. The Munchkins replace the old oil burners, and they run on natural gas. The old oil tank, which was an environmental and insurance liability, has been removed. This photograph was made on October 10, when the boiler to the right was fired up for testing. The only hitch was an airlock in the line to the Old Rectory, which was easily bled off -- just as a homeowner bleeds air out of a radiator -- to complete a fully successful test of the new system!

Kit Cone

Just a Little Wisp of Water Vapor

The little wisp of water vapor seen against the early morning sky in the photograph above is symbolic of a huge step forward for the current construction work at Grace Church! The tiny white puff comes from one of the two new "Munchkin" boilers that have been installed in the church basement, replacing the former oil burner that heated the church. On Friday, October 10, the boiler was put online for testing, with excellent results. A new underground gas main must be installed to provide sufficient fuel to run both Munchkins at full output, and that is expected within a few days. The new boilers are extremely efficient, and the resulting reduction in fuel cost is expected to pay for the entire installation in four years.

Kit Cone

New Main Floor Bathrooms Progressing Well

The construction work at Grace Church these days resembles a four-ring circus, with carpenters, roofers, plumbers, electricians, painters, and other workers moving busily throughout the new addition as well as the existing church. Among the many improvements to the existing building is the space shown in the photograph above, where a new bathroom is being built at the west end of Nieman Hall. This is one of two adjacent facilities -- for women and for men -- that will supplement the existing bathrooms. The new facilities should eliminate the waiting lines that have been a problem at such major functions as holy day services, church social events, and music concerts.

Kit Cone

Good Move toward "Greener Grace"

This week a new water fountain is being installed to replace the old one in the wall outside the choir room! The old one had not worked for many years, and replacement parts are no longer available. With no functioning water fountain, people had to use heavy paper coffee cups from the kitchen to get a drink of water. The new unit can be seen lying on the floor at the right in the photograph above, next to the old one that was removed. The new fountain will be built into the wall, fitting into the recess that is visible at left, in the same location as the old fountain. Many significant changes such as this are being made in the existing church as part of the construction of the new parish hall. Others include the use of linoleum tiles for the hallway floors, and the installation of new lighting fixtures that produce more light with less energy.

Kit Cone

The New Entrance to the Church

During construction, the entrance near the rectory has been the principal way to get in and out of the church. This photograph shows the new main entrance from the rear parking lot into the church. The entry doors are to the left, the doors to the new parish hall are at right, and the doors -- closed at present -- into the main church hallway are straight ahead. When this section is completed, people will be able to walk from their cars to the big side doors on the new parish hall, and then through the same entrance that has served the church for decades, between the kitchen and the choir room.

Kit Cone

New Church Hall Is Taking Shape

The size and shape of the new church hall is becoming visible as the walls go up. This photograph was made on October 2, looking from the back corner of the new hall toward the entrance hallway. The studs in the background are for a wall between the entrance hallway, which will also serve as the new main entrance to the church from the parking area, and the parish hall itself.

Kit Cone

Ceiling Tile Going Up

New ceiling tile is being installed in the hallways on the first floor of the existing church, completing the drop ceilings. The new style of tiles is considerably more substantial than most drop ceilings, and the lights are fitted into modules into the ceiling frame for a unified appearance far superior to the old tiles that fell off the ceiling, and four-foot fluorescent lamps that betrayed their 50-year age with frequent failures. Shown above is the hallway behind the high altar, from the kitchen toward the library.

Kit Cone

Painting the Reconfigured Nieman Hall

On Wednesday, October 1, work began on painting the new walls that have been erected to divide off the interior end of Nieman Hall. The photograph above is of the new lobby connecting the main hallway with Nieman Hall. The doorway to the right of the painter leads to the kitchen; the other kitchen door has been closed off permanently. On the left side of this lobby, out of view in this photograph, new bathrooms are being built; they will be accessible from the lobby. At left in this picture is the doorway -- now closed by a temporary partition -- that will lead from the lobby into the reconfigured Nieman Hall. 

Kit Cone