Construction has begun and safety comes first
Renewal construction updates (almost) as they happen, for the week of May 16, 2016.
It has been an exciting couple of weeks here at Holy Blossom as our new general contractor, Pomerleau Construction, has mobilized on-site. At this early stage in our relationship, Pomerleau has been very professional, highly-organized and truly a pleasure to work with.
The majority of the early construction work relates to site safety. Pomerleau is going to great lengths in order to ensure that we can continue to enjoy all of the services, programs and activities at Holy Blossom with full confidence that safety and security is the number one priority. To that end, a sturdy fence has been erected down the middle of the Dewbourne parking lot, delineating the half closest to the building for construction use only. The Ava Road parking lot has also been altered, with concrete barriers in place to separate Temple traffic from the construction area. Have a look for these changes next time you’re here, and please do your best to heed the new signage!
The next visible work on the construction schedule will be the building of a covered walkway that will connect the Main Sanctuary (via doors on the east side of the Herman Chapel) to the new entrance doors into the School Wing off of the Ava Road parking lot. As you know, these new doors open into the former Boardroom Foyer and they’ll be our primary entrance into Temple for the duration of Phase One construction – currently estimated to run until near the end of 2017. From this entry, you can make your way to all points in the School Wing either by taking our new elevator or by using the staircase at the west end of the Boardroom. [Click here for a handy location guide showing the location of all of your favourite Temple personnel.]
Once Pomerleau has fully mobilized on-site, work will begin inside the original 1937 building, starting first with the careful removal of our ancient electrical and mechanical equipment and then proceeding with more visible structural demolition. All of this, in order to make way for our transformative, light-filled Atrium and the rest of our Phase 1 spaces: our new Library, Café, Youth Lounge, Administrative Wing and much more, all in a LEED Silver Certified environmentally-friendly building.
If you have any questions about our Renewal Project, please click on our FAQs anytime. Or drop us a line at renewal@holyblossom.org and we’ll do our best to answer promptly.
As always, we thank you for your support. For the most up to date photos of Renewal construction in progress, please click here.
