I know that we are all eager to hear the latest news on the sanctuary construction, and for that reason I asked Craig Spery, Chair of our Construction Committee, to give us an update. – Kathleen McFarlin
As your Sanctuary Construction Committee Chair, I’m happy to give you a heads up about construction happenings that are on the immediate horizon for the beautiful new sanctuary we’ve all been waiting for.
Since we signed and celebrated our con-tract last month with construction company Hoffman & Associates, the City of Costa Mesa finally has the permits ready. With permits in hand, the Hoffman team, in consultation with our architect domus studio, has been busy ordering materials that have long lead times for our project. For example, the required electrical switching panels will take about nine months to be manufactured and delivered. However, that doesn’t mean we will just be sitting back and waiting. There is much to be done in the pre-demolition phase, including removing building materials and appliances that can be recycled or reused, followed by the actual demolition.
Things will start to look different at the church property soon. The old building housing the Ukrainian shelter is being vacated by our final Ukrainian guests by the end of August.
We have begun planning an official groundbreaking event for the entire congregation immediately after the church service on Labor Day weekend. Then after Labor Day the contractor will install construction fencing around the entire construction site. The con-tractor will also stage the surrounding area with a construction trailer, a temporary electrical power pole and will block off certain parking areas to be used for material storage.
Throughout the 10-month construction process, the congregation will have full access to Daniels Hall and the RE/Administration buildings and a part of the courtyard area including the pergola. Both our long-term and short-term renters will also continue to have access to their meeting spaces as well throughout construction.
Construction activity will take place during the work week during usual business hours. Nothing will be scheduled for the week-ends. Everyone using the church campus will be able to view construction activity through the construction fence from the courtyard through-out the estimated 10 months the project is taking shape.
Members of our construction committee - Debra Quam, Audrey Prosser, Barbara Morihiro, Bob Loeschen, Nancy Loughrey and myself - will be available during coffee hour to give you up-dates as construction milestones are reached.
However, as with any construction site, the fenced in area where activity is occurring will be off limits for safety reasons. Signage will mark the off-limit areas and while we’ll welcome “sidewalk supervisors,” we ask that everyone abide by messages on the signs.
Labor Day will certainly take on a new meaning at OCUUC this year. These are indeed exciting times in the life of our congregation. – Craig Spery
Kathleen McFarlin is Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's Board President.