Lots of Updates on Children’s Building Construction

Well, Happy 2011 everyone!  As we start a new year, we are nearing completion on our children’s ministry building.  The past few weeks have seen major eye-catching changes in the building.  The pictures below will help tell the story of all that has happened over the past couple of weeks:

 

Asphalt being installed on the area of our parking lot immediately surrounding the new children's addition.

Asphalt installed in the circle drive/covered drop off area of the new building.

 

The drive around back of our building nearing completion.

Bathroom tile, countertop and fixtures in the men's bathroom downstairs in the new building.

Circular windows in the hallway down the nursery/toddler hall will be filled with one way glass allowing parents to look in and see their children during class.

Ceiling grid in place downstairs awaiting ceiling tiles.

Green is the wall color for the nursery/toddler classrooms . . . now on the walls!

Teal is the color of the walls in the early elementary classrooms. Now also on the walls!

Yellow/Orange is the color for the preschool rooms. Also note the cabinets, now installed in much of the building!

Can Lights installed in the new i45 room (4th and 5th grade) room.

Concrete stain samples down for us to determine which to use for the hallways/lobby. The selection is coming soon.

Merry Christmas! Lots of Progress on the Building

Though Christmas does not come until Saturday, Wildwood has received an early Christmas gift this year with two very solid weeks of great progress on the construction of our Children’s Ministry Building.  Take a look at the pictures below.  They  tell the story.  Join us in praising God for this progress.

 

Sidewalks around the building are now complete.

The main gas line into the new building was completed and is now awaiting city inspection.

The footings for the dumpster pad were poured.

asphalt was cut to get to the locations where the exterior parking lot lights will be located in our old back parking lot.

Light bases were drilled and poured on our new parking lot.

Ceiling grid is now being installed. Note the paint is already on the walls in certain areas, including this classroom . . . a preschool room! There are four hallways of classrooms in the building. Each set of classrooms will get its own paint color. This color (called Sunburst) will be the color for all our preschool rooms.

The opening between the new building and our existing Gathering Hall is almost complete!

The baptismal is currently being installed in the downstairs "Theater" room.

The inside of the 1947 Spartan Trailer is being redone and retrofitted into lounge seating at the top of our grand stairwell.

More Progress

The past couple of weeks on the construction project have seen some significant strides.  Below, you will see the latest:

 

1.  The curbs for the repaired parking lot surrounding our new children’s building were poured, taking us a few major steps closer to getting our back door and back parking lot back in operation!

Curbs being installed around the back parking lot.

Another shot of the curbs going in.

2.  The windows and doors for the building’s main entrance have been placed, and the building is now secure from the outside!

Glass and doors now cover the new entrance into the children's building.

3.  The elevator has been installed (NOTE:  After the children’s building opens, we will have two elevators in our facility — our existing elevator and the new one just installed in the children’s wing.)

The elevator has been installed!

4.  The decorative 1940′s era Spartan Trailer is being cut and installed as a featured portion of our “lounge” area at the top of the new monumental staircase.  For more details about the Trailer, see this post from May 2010.

A good shot of the trailer being cut to size at the top of our monumental staircase.

Up close shot of the trailer being cut to size.

Wood frames for the couches which will be placed inside the trailer once it is set in place.

Artist rendering of the trailer once completed.

Paving the Way

The past few days have seen increased progress on the children’s building . . . primarily outside the structure.  Over the past few days, large dirt movers have been at work shaping the ground to the engineered contours of our and new and improved parking lot and drive back to and around our new children’s building.  Additionally, the new children’s building got a back porch!  Outside the small “theater” room downstairs in the new building will be a small patio overlooking the trees and creek.  This patio could be used for small receptions or outdoor meetings in the future.

Looking down on the earth movers shaping the area for our new parking lot around the children's building.

 

The new back porch . . .

Firming Up the Plans

This week on the construction site saw the return of concrete contrators and pavers.  This is fantastic news, as it means we will soon be getting our full parking lot back!

On the inside of the building, this week saw the concrete ramp poured that will connect our existing building to our children’s building.  (NOTE:  The reason we are placing a ramp between the two buildings on the second floor is so that we can have higher ceilings in our children’s building than we have in our existing downstairs classrooms.)  The ramp will run between the backside of our current Gathering Hall into our new upstairs children’s hallway.

Outside the building, this week saw the completion of the EIFS stucco finish and the removal of the exterior scaffold.  This move allows us to begin paving our parking lot back.  This work will take place over the next several weeks.  Stay tuned!

Workers pouring concrete for the ramp into the new children's building (upstairs). The light you see at the bottom of the ramp is from the current Gathering Hall.

Trucks beginning to tear up and haul away damaged asphalt in preparation for the restoration of our downstairs "upper" parking lot and rear entrance. We are getting close!

Tear it Down to Build it Up

As we mentioned earlier this week, construction has now moved into our existing East hallway classrooms.  This past week has seen additional demolition of the old walls inside the classrooms in that hallway in order to create the blank canvas necessary for the five new classrooms (that will open into the new children’s building instead of opening into our old East hallway).  Check out the pics as we tear down to build up!

Demo began on the East hallway rooms this week.

 

Workers tear out the walls in what used to be Room # "East 2"

 

Tear out occurring in the old Room # "East 5"

No, not a tornado . . . intentional destruction with purpose in what used to be the Nursing Mother's Room.

Working on the drywall over the entrance from the new building side into what used to be "East 1 & 2"

Checkerboard tile being placed in the downstairs restroom in the new building. This restroom area (along with the rest of the buildling decor, has a 1950's road trip motif.

Moving East

Well, it has been two weeks since our last update.  The lack of an update last week is NOT indicative of our level of progress, however, as each day now sees serious strides being made as we sprint toward the construction finish line.  Last week, construction moved into the East hallway of our existing building.  As you may be aware, the East hallway classrooms (rooms that used to house Toddler A, the nursing mother’s room, 4th grade and 5th grade classes) are being remodeled and “flipped” so that their doors open into the new children’s building.  With construction making its way into this hallway, several changes were made to the locations of our Sunday morning ministries.  Toddler A moved to “South 1.”  Nursery A moved to the “Light Source Bookstore” (upstairs off the Gathering Hall), 4th and 5th graders now share Room 227 (across from the staff offices) and one of the staff offices for their meeting locations.

In addition to this work in the East hallway, progress continues on the drywall and interior framing of the new building.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Signs like this greeted people at Wildwood yesterday.

Drywall now covers what used to be the entrance off the east hallway into the i45 classroom "East 1"

Metal framing is now setting the walls in what used to be our East hallway classrooms. After construction, the East Hallway will be home to two nursery rooms, two preschool classrooms, a resource room containing supplies for teachers, an AV service room, and a hallway connecting our existing building to the new building.

A look at the lobby. The black frames you see on the left side of the picture will soon hold the windows and doors that will make up our new back door.

“Rescuing” the Steel

This week, the world has been captivated by the rescue of 33 Chilean miners who were lifted out of their collapsed mine by a metal cage known as a “Phoenix.”  One by one the miners climbed in the Phoenix and were pulled up to the surface of the earth.  As I watched this news story unfold, I also saw a similar scene (less all the drama) unfolding on the construction site where our new children’s ministry building was being constructed.  In our case, no person was being rescued, but several pieces of steel were being added to the inside of the brick tower that surrounds our old back door.  The inside of this tower is being reinforced with steel to add stability to the entire building.  In order to do this, two workers at a time climb inside a metal cage that is lifted by a crane and lowered into the brick tower from the top so that they can work installing the steel about half-way up the tower.  What an adventure!  The pics below help tell the story. . .

A look at the brick tower that is being reinforced with steel. Since the tower is already constructed, the steel support can only be accessed from above, sending two workers at a time down the hollow inside of the tower so that the steel can be added.

A view from the crane that is lifting the "Phoenix" into place to hoist the workers into the tower.

A shot of the men being lifted into place.

And down they go! Let's pray for the safety of all the workers on our construction site

In addition to installing steel around the tower, more work has been finished on the exterior EIFS finish to the front of the building.

Furdowns, Drywall, & EIFS . . . Another Productive Week!

Workers on scaffolds installing the EIFS structure on the eastern edge of the new building.

More EIFS work on the building’s backside

Another look at the lobby wall.

Drywall now covers most of the building’s interiors, including the large “monumental” wall in the lobby of the new building.

This past week has seen more progress on the construction of our new children’s building.  Work this week has been primarily in three areas:

1.  Framing on the inside of the building at several “furdown” locations.  Furdowns are areas of the ceiling structure where the ceiling lowers to create interest and texture to the hallways.

2.  Continued work on the drywall inside the building.  Drywall is now virtually completely installed on the interior walls . . . including drywall on the enormous wall that runs inside the lobby.  That 28 foot high wall is quite impressive to behold.  Can’t wait to see the finished product!

3.  Exterior EIFS work continues.  On the front of the building, in  places along the back of the building, and on the building’s east side, the EIFS is being installed.  EIFS is the stucco like surface that comprises most of the exterior of our new building.

We are getting closer!

Furdowns are being installed throughout the new building.

Wow, It Really Looks Like a Building!

Well, the past week saw the completion of the EIFS installation on the backside of the building.  If you are new to this blog, EIFS is the stucco like material that is used to cover the outiside of the building.  With most of the windows and doors installed, and the EIFS in place on the back, from the backside, it really looks like a building!  Additionally, Bruce and I (Mark) got a tour of the roof this week, and were able to see the newly installed air conditioning units.  Each day brings more progress!  Can’t wait until the inside looks as good as the outside.

A good look at the back of the new building.

A look at the northern end of the new building.

Senior Pastor Bruce Hess surveying the new air conditioning units

Large AC units designed to keep us cool on hot Oklahoma days. What a blessing!