You can’t miss our new covered walkway!  

Renewal construction updates (almost) as they happen, for the week of May 30, 2016.

Since we last updated you, two short weeks ago, the look and feel of our campus has changed dramatically.  With all of the Temple’s people and possessions now housed in the School Wing, our general contractor – Pomerleau Construction – has completely sealed off access to the older portion of the building (with the exception, of course, of our still operational Main Sanctuary) and we are learning to operate in this new reality.  All staff have settled into their temporary spaces with clergy, membership and development staff on the third floor; school and youth staff on the second floor; and accounting and administration in the northwest corner of the first floor.

Pomerleau has been extremely professional in every respect.  They are committed to maintaining a clean, safe workplace and are demonstrating that every day.  Brand new construction hoarding, fences and barriers have been installed, delineating their work space from Temple-occupied areas.  Importantly, a covered walkway has been erected, linking 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. This will enable our guests to access the Philip Smith Congregational Hall following a simcha in the Sanctuary, either via our new elevator or via the stairs at the west end of the Boardroom. As we’ve previously reported, these new entrance doors open into the former Boardroom Foyer and they’ll serve as our primary entrance into Temple for the duration of Phase One construction – currently estimated to run until near the end of 2017.

From a construction perspective, this past week, interior exploratory demolition has begun, as Pomerleau plans out this very detailed portion of the work, with more selective demolition to continue next week. 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.