Thanks For All the Ideas

Almost all the input for the architectural design team from our user groups has been submitted. Thanks to all who gave of their time and ideas, we got some great ones. Thanks also to John McKague for his help. We probably won’t make everyone completely happy but we’re trying. The Kitchen has proved to be the hardest and is just about there. Our chefs will have a fantastic place to make their magic.

Allison at the Duncan Center gave me a tour of their kitchen the other day. Their needs are somewhat different than ours but it’s about the same size as ours will be and has a lot of the same equipment we are interested in. (Some we may not be, i.e. large hot/cold and beverage lines in the main room although we could consider smaller portables for these later.) Their chef says he’d like more storage both refer and pantry as well as more prep space. We’ll do our best. They have something we didn’t think about but probably can’t fit now; it’s a bathroom for kitchen staff. That way when nature calls they don’t have to stroll through the event dressed in spaghetti sauce…

Here’s a link to some pictures I took there. http://picasaweb.google.com/photos.sjecs/DuncanCenterKitchen?authkey=PrRb6E_4pag#

The Tuesday morning team meeting happened again (if I’m at a team meeting it must be Tuesday…). Today we had civil, structural, MPE, (mechanical, plumbing, electrical), engineers, general contractor, energy consultant and 3 architects and (oh yeah) me. These meetings are really productive with lots of exchange of ideas and keep everyone focused and on schedule. They also help solve problems before they get out of hand.
We continue to discuss solar hot water, solar cell arrays, LED lighting and other ways to be as green as possible.

We are closer to starting the narthex; we expect the permit within the next two weeks or so. There will be a fair amount of pavement work out front and we will probably have to use the transept doors for a few weeks and alter our parking habits. (I prayed for patience and the Lord sent me a renovation…)

The fichus tree south of the church and next to the classroom building unfortunately has to go. Tad Knutsen’s company will be removing it and grinding the stump this week. We’ll be redoing the pavement and making it wider there, the disabled parking will get closer to the building and we’ll install a paver sidewalk.

As usual all questions are welcome.
Peace, Ric Filer