First Look at the Covered Drop Off

One of the nice things that is a part of the new children’s building is a covered drive-through drop-off at our new back door.  Over the past couple of days the structural steel for this drive through has been placed.  Below you will see a few pics.  Also, metal studs continue to be placed around the outside of the building.  It has been a productive week on the construction site!

Workers placed the structural steel for the covered drop-off this week.

A view from the second floor looking down on the new covered drive through at our new back door.

Another view . . . this time at ground level

Another view from ground level looking back to the west.

More Metal Studs forming the outer wall of our building.

Steel Making Progress

This week more significant progress is being made on the construction of our new children’s building.  For the first time in weeks, we have multiple sub-contractors on site at the same time.  For the past 6 months or so, we have been moving at a slow pace because of two reasons:  1) Weather delays through the winter slowed progress.  2) We have been at a phase of the project where only one sub-contractor could be on the site at the same time (i.e. the masons needed to lay the block before the steel guys could come back, etc.)  Beginning now, we are at a new phase of construction where those two elements will no longer be hinderances to us making swift progress on construction!  Within the next couple of days, all the steel will be up on the building and the roof decking will be down.  This will greatly reduce the slowing of pace that weather delays bring.  (Soon, we will actually have the roof on and the building weathered in, thus eliminating all together weather delays!)  Second, we are now at the spot when multiple sub-contractors can work side by side instead of waiting on one another to begin work.  Praise God!  Below are some pictures of what is happening on site this week, including:  1) The last roof joists being placed.  2) Metal studs going up on the buildings exterior.  3) “Red lines” down on the slab showing where walls will soon be located.  Join us in praising God for continued progress on this project.

The big crane is back today placing roof joists and the rest of the structural steel.

Looking up at the last roof joists installed. These roof joists where left off the building earlier to leave room for us to place the trailer on the second floor (see last week's post for news about the trailer!)

"Red Lines" down on the slab showing where walls will soon be going up inside the new building.

Metal Wall Studs going up on the building's exterior.

Up close look at the installation of the wall studs.

Second floor view of the wall studs going up.

A Flying Trailer

Well, yesterday was a big day on the construction site.  We actually lifted and placed a large section of a 1948 Spartan Trailer onto the second floor of our new children’s ministry addition!  Why would someone do such a thing?  The trailer is a part of the internal decoration/design of the building.  We are theming the interior of the building (including the hallways and main lobby) around a “vintage road trip” motif.  The trailer forms the exterior wall of a “lounge” area at the top of the main stairway for parents to wait or small groups to meet.  The whole theme will help create a wonderfully creative environment for families to hear more about the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Why theme the building?: When we decided to construct this 20,000 square foot children’s ministry addition, we had to ask the question, “What type of building do we want to build?”  Taking our example from Jesus’ incarnation (coming in a form people could understand) and from Paul’s admonition to “be all things to all people,” we decided to build a building that would be attractive to children and parents alike.  We began looking for professional help in designing our interiors and found a wonderful partner in Team JYD.  This Oklahoma City based team has done some wonderful projects, including the Toby Keith restaurants and portions of the Omniplex.  In partnership with Team JYD and a steering committee of Wildwood members, we decided to move forward with this “vintage road trip” theme.

Why the vintage road trip theme?: Our steering committee liked this theme for several reasons:  1) It is general enough that it can have different “expressions” in the different hallways inside the children’s building (each hall has a different geographic theme – forest, mountain, desert, or beach).  2) It is not tied to just one biblical story, thus making it natural to talk about all the Scripture regardless of room  (i.e. if a room was themed around David and Goliath, then we wondered if it might be strange to talk about Jonah and the whale in that room.  By contrast, people talk about ALL the Scriptures in different locations all over the world).  3) The idea of a road trip has many biblical images associated with it. (i.e. We are all sojourners in this land, we are headed to a great destination, but have the privilege of traveling through this life in community and with God . . . there is joy in the journey, etc.)

Below, you will find some pictures that describe the experience of placing the trailer yesterday, as well as some still shots that show JYD’s vision for how the trailer might look when installation is complete.

Team JYD's Chuck Clowers and Cameron Eagle with the trailer before take-off.

The trailer just before take-off (NOTE: Only 2/3 of this trailer will be used in the new building.)

We have lift off!

Chuck attaches a rope to one end of the trailer to help "catch" it once the trailer arrives on the second floor.

Up, up and away!

Moving this trailer would be an insurmountable task for a couple of guys, but one man operating this large crane handled it with no problems. It took only a couple of minutes to lift and place the trailer.

A view of the trailer looking through the roof grid on the second floor.

Team JYD's Chuck waiting for the arrival of the tralier.

Coming in for a landing.

Chuck inspecting the work.

What the trailer will look like when it is "shined up"

Artist rendering of what the trailer might look like resting as the wall against the main staircase in the new building's lobby.

The inside of the trailer will be finished out with soft seating and used for small group gatherings in the second floor "landing" area.

Looking inside the new trailer. . .

The classic Spartan trailer logo is being reworked on the end of this new brand of trailer!

Metal Studs Arrive!

This morning, more materials began arriving for the building.  Two trucks full of metal studs showed up onsite that will eventually become the exterior walls for the new building!  It is great to see these materials on site and know that we are just days away from our building “skeleton” taking on some “flesh.”

Trucks arrive with metal studs

Metal studs and exterior wall material. The "flesh" for our building has arrived.

Pouring the Second Floor

After a few weeks of delay, we are back moving on construction of our new children’s building.  Last Wednesday, the second floor slab was poured in the new building, and this week, workers are pouring the concrete stairs.  By the end of the week, the majority of the concrete work will be done!  Praise God!  Soon the building will be weathered in and construction will be moving quickly toward our fall completion date.

Concrete trucks are a welcome site back on the project!

After the concrete is poured, workers smooth out the slab on the second floor.

Workers finishing the concrete on the main staircase that will connect the new downstairs entrance to our existing Gathering Hall.

A view from of the north corner of the building amidst the trees. What a beautiful location for the building!

Go Wild!

On Saturday, April 24, members of Wildwood Community Church went out into the community to serve in various capacity as a part of our annual “Go Wild” day.  In addition to the two homes we repaired through Rebuilding Together of Cleveland County, we also worked on cleaning up a good portion of the greenbelt inside Hall Park (the area surrounding the church).   The area that was cleaned up was the area immediately behind the new children’s building.  Here are a few pictures that show the work of the clean up project. Thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard on this project!

Phil Warren, captain of the backhoe!

Children's Pastor Brian Hayes using the chipper to dispose of fallen branches.

Jim Rankin transporting fallen limbs to the chipper.

Ryan Eshelman pruning trees in the green belt area behind the new children's building.

Anthony Boyd transporting wood to the chipper.