New Elevator Going Up! (And down.)

[clear][ahs_brownbox title=”Renewal construction updates (almost) as they happen…”]
 For the week of December 14, 2015.
As the year closes, we’re coming to the very end of the extensive preparatory work of Phase 1 construction. And we’re overjoyed to announce (finally!) that our brand new elevator, built to serve our new campus, has just been commissioned and is now fully operational for the use of all our congregants. So take a ride and let us know what you think!
In addition to this, the new exit doors on the north side of the School Wing have now been installed and the new, concrete landing outside these doors has been poured.  As soon as the new north staircase, connecting the main floor to the lower level, is finished in the next couple of weeks (we are waiting for the terrazzo flooring work to be completed), these doors will enable our administrative staff to easily access their new temporary work spaces. These doors will also serve as a new emergency exit from the lower level (since the current lower level foyer doors will be closed during the balance of Phase 1 construction).
Work is also almost complete on our new fully-accessible ramp from the Ava Road parking lot to the new south doors that lead into the Boardroom foyer – and, from there, access to the rest of the School Wing via either the southwest stairwell or our new elevator.
We remind you that this preparatory work has been undertaken so that we can stay onsite and house all of our Temple activities in our School Wing throughout Phase 1 of Renewal. As you know, the balance of Phase 1 construction includes our beautiful new sunlit Central Atrium, as well as our new Family Chapel, Library, coffee shop, Youth Lounge and so much more – in a LEED Silver certified, environmentally friendly building.
To that point, bids have very recently been received from the six pre-qualified general contractor firms bidding to oversee construction of the balance of Phase 1.  Our Building Committee, with the guidance of our architect and our cost consultant, has reviewed the bids and has started to engage in a value-engineering exercise with the general contractor that submitted the best bid.  This process, which may take a couple of months to complete, aims to reduce the cost of constructing the balance of Phase 1, since the bids came in higher than anticipated when measured against the estimates prepared by our cost consultant.
Once again, thanks to all for your continued support of our Renewal Project. For the most up to date photos and video of construction in progress, including our now-functioning new elevator, please click here.