On Friday December 30, 2022, with the help of UUCBV members and friends, we unloaded a delivery truck with our Sanctuary chairs into a climate-controlled storage unit at Cubby Hole Texas 2 (next store to our future church). The weather cooperated and we fit all the chairs into the 10X15 storage unit! We had to receive the chairs in 2022 or face stiff contractual penalties.
On Thursday Jan 5, 2023 we held our monthly meeting with the architect, Brian Gibbs of Pact Design; the construction engineer, Paul Hawryluk of Keys & Walsh (K&W); the site manager, Charles Vernon of K&W; Kathy Wheeler, Chair of SST and Owner’s agent; Ken Appelt, Owner’s alternate agent; John Ivy, and Joyce Langenegger; BOT liaison.
Discussions:
A Gantt chart from Paul was requested by Joyce. Paul submitted the requested chart on Jan 20, 2023. The chart is updatable and a link was supplied to access the chart. Below please find Paul’s statement received with the Gannt chart:
“Attached is the schedule for the completion of the church. I have included a PDF and link to the live schedule. This will be updated weekly to monitor progress... There is a caveat that will affect completion. The project is broken up into two phases (A and B). Phase A is classroom and support rooms. Phase B is the Sanctuary and the support areas. Basically, Phase B is strictly impacted by what happens with the fire sprinklers. You will notice the Orange Highlighted task labeled REDISGN BUFFER. This task line affects how much the project gets extended. I have 14 days included now, but if that grows so does completion day.”
There has been a delay in the project due to the installation of the fire suppression sprinklers in the Sanctuary. The problem is under review to resolve 1) issues of aesthetics of the sprinkler system 2) the improvement of the aesthetics versus the acoustics of the Sanctuary and 3) the practicality of changing the engineering plans and resubmitting a change of plans to the City of Bryan for the already approved current design of the fire suppression sprinklers. We are also awaiting the measurements of an acoustical curtain and the installation of a beam whose location depends on those said measurements.
K&W had to get permission from the city of Bryan to divide and finish the construction and the upcoming inspections into two parts while the Sanctuary issues are ironed out.
The skylight is currently in process of installation. There have been several delays K&W had to contend with as the skylight providers had numerous changes in their requirements. The roof will be properly flashed by the roofer after the skylight installation.
I have asked for a quote to install the infrastructure for future solar panels. This involves conduits to go from the attic-type areas to the electrical room. This is much cheaper than knocking out walls later to put in the infrastructure needed for the future installation of solar panels. Solar panels were Value Engineered out due to expense. The amount added to the church project for this infrastructure should be far less than starting from scratch later. This project should be fairly quick.
We have already budgeted for the finish out of the Chapel bathroom, and the RE rooms.
All the windows in the church will be double-paned to improve insulation in the church.
On Jan 21, 2023 we had our monthly Walk the Property (WTP). We skipped December due to the holidays. We had the best crowd that we have ever had on the WTP. It was nice for the SST and our professionals to see that numerous people are interested in the project.
On Jan 27, 2023 the SST held a ZOOM meeting. Many things were discussed. The gas line has been installed on our street so we have access to the line for our gas central heating. Charles had found out earlier that there was no gas line to the property and he was quoted $6,000 to put in a line to the street. He talked to our commercial neighbors and found two who wanted a gas line also. The gas company dropped the $6,000 fee since three customers wanted a gas line. Thanks, Charles!
The storage building is almost finished.
Ken has been working on the lighting in the Sanctuary for performances as well as sermons. He has been working with experts to make our Sanctuary a wonderful place for music! He also wants to simplify the basic lighting in the Sanctuary to make it easier to have others operate the lighting. By the way, the Sanctuary has been architecturally designed to have great acoustics by an acoustical engineer! Thanks, Ken!
I ask for your patience in this project. Thousands of volunteer hours have been spent on this project. We plan to have a wonderful church building that is well planned and built professionally. The “Project Management Triangle” (look it up on line) says the three sides of this triangle are: “Time, Quality, and Cost- you can have any two”. I believe we will have a wonderful church home we can be proud of for decades by emphasizing Quality and Cost!
-Kathy Wheeler