Continued from home page.

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Earlier in the month a new team was formed to oversee the construction of the building. The team meets every other Tuesday with our contractor, TEDCO, and our architect, Rothschild Doyno Collaborative (RDC), to review progress of the building, approve changes in scope, and authorize payment for work done. The team is also responsible for communicating with the congregation. At its most recent meeting the team reviewed the design changes mandated by Mt. Lebanon to meet its fire code, which is much more restrictive than the state code. The most significant change was to create separate “fire areas” of less than 5,000 square feet to eliminate the need for sprinklers, which are prohibitively expensive. RDC’s design solution will turn the rear wall of the sanctuary into a fire barrier by adding a second layer of drywall and installing fire resistant doors. In addition, the new plans call for fire dampers in certain air ducts, additional smoke detectors and emergency lighting.

At the same meeting Denny McCracken reported that we had received the final documents for our construction loan from Huntington Bank. The agreements have been signed by President Denny McCracken, Vice President Jay Thornton, and Treasurer Regina Yankie. Our loan is now secured, and all of our financing is in place.

Now that the church is a full-blown construction site, TEDCO has installed fencing along the front and sides of the property and lockable gates on the driveways from Washington Road and Sunnyhill Drive. These gates will be locked at night during the work week and all day Saturdays and Sundays. Our access is from Sunnyhill Drive. That gate has two padlocks linked together – one belongs to Sunnyhill and one is owned by TEDCO. Anyone needing access to the building in the evenings and on the weekends should see Roy for a key to our padlock and a tutorial on how the locking system works. The gate is heavy and not easy to open, so be careful.
Finally, with cold weather approaching an issue that we are addressing is heating the portion of the building we are occupying. While the offices, kitchen and bathroom must be heated to comfortable temperatures for our staff, the fellowship hall only needs to be heated to about 45 degrees to prevent the building from deteriorating due to the cold. TEDCO is working on a solution, which should be in place before heating season begins.

The New Home Construction Team will continue to provide updates in The Beat and The Drummer, and once demolition is completed, we will post a time lapse video of the process on our website.