It's been a long while since I've posted any pictures. The major part of the project is complete, with some of these pictures showing the first workout that the kitchen got. It''s gotten plenty of use this fall, with at least four major events just in September and October. As with any new space, there are "kinks" to work out, but the traffic flow is less constricted and the place just looks and smells better.

The other two pictures show the new bookcases in the Pastor's office (thanks to Art and Elaine Halbardier), and the little curiosity now hung outside the Cantor's office. This is made up a various sized organ pipes and a tiny keyboard, and was a gift from John Manz to his father, Paul. John has now donated it to Mount Olive. It gets people's attention as they walk through the office suite.

Next up for the building committee: finish the library space, complete signage, and generally tie up some loose ends. More to come!

Our new "old" kitchen

The contractor's work on the undercroft kitchen is nearly finished. Actually, the contractor's work on the entire project is nearly finished. We still have some work to do and will continue to ask for volunteers to help.
The undercroft kitchen is taking shape nicely. We have had the cabinets refinished, and with new wall covering, paint and cabinet colors, there is no yellow anywhere to be seen. You can just see a glimpse of the "new" cabinet color in the accompanying picture that includes the ovens. The dishwashing room is being completed, and mostly what's left is some finish painting and reinstalling the cabinets and work surfaces where we want them. Then the remaining new countertops will be installed and we'll be moving things back in to the cupboards.

There has been a tentative building project completion celebration date set: September 12. This coincides with the first Sunday back to the regular 2-service worship schedule. Lots to celebrate at Mount Olive these days! Stay tuned for more information.

Undercroft kitchen progress

The remodeling proceeds on the undercroft kitchen. Most of the plumbing and electrical work is complete. A new "lining" on the lower three-quarters of the wall, called FRP (Fiberglass reinforced polysomething.....) has been put up. The paint color above the FRP will be a light shade of blue. We're close to selecting the cabinet colors and the electrostatic painting of those should begin soon. As you can see from the photos, the ceiling still has to go in, as does the floor. A glass block window has been installed in the south call to match the one on the east wall (yes, that is someone's hand putting in the blocks). The new lighting alone does so much to enhance the look of the place. The range hood still needs to be cleaned and painted (any volunteers to scrub a range hood?).

In the upstairs kitchen, the cabinets have just been painted and look very nice. That was an "add-on" to the project, but the need became very apparent when we reinstalled old cabinets in a newly done kitchen.

Meanwhile, the upstairs spaces continue to get lots of use. Lots of hospitality goin' on!

Grand re-dedication - September 12! Should be fun!

I've attached a couple of pictures to show how the new space on the main floor is already being used. Coffee is currently being served in the newest space on the west side. Adult ed forums are in their regular place in the Chapel Lounge. We are planning to replace the cranberry couches with newer seating, but they are being used temporarily until we figure out how to pay for new ones!

Decisions have been made about the colors and materials for the downstairs kitchen. We are not able to use an epoxy coated floor as was our original plan. So we will be installing quarry tile, as is standard in most industrial/commercial kitchens these days. Since the old yellow tiles are now gone we had a clean slate for colors. So the floor will be a quarry tile brown, the walls will be blue and the countertops will be a gray/brown/blue pattern. Color samples were passed around after worship this morning for congregational input.

So the work continues and hopefully will be wrapped up soon!

Look Ma, no more yellow tiles!

That's right! The kitchen was stripped of it's ugly yellow tiles today. This was not originally planned as part of the kitchen project. But after the old dishwasher plumbing was removed we discovered that many of the pipes had been placed in huge grooves through the tile, leaving very unsightly scarring that we weren't going to be able to cover up. So, out came the pry bars and the muscles and down came all the wall tile. (Thanks to Andrew Anderson, David Molvik and Gary Pagel!) This will enable us to choose the colors we really want for the kitchen rather than having to match the colors to the yellow tile.
In the pictures you see what's left behind on the walls - essentially a history of stylish paint colors from the early-to-mid 20th century. Or perhaps it's a history of extra paint that someone had in their garage....

In other news today, a crew of people started in on the final clean-up in the upstairs remodeled space. There's still plenty to do so if you couldn't make it this time, there will be more opportunities! Thanks so much to Andrew Anderson for organizing this work. On Saturday, June 26, you're invited to meet at the church at 9 a.m. to move the furniture back from the warehouse. It is possible we'll be hosting our first coffee hour in the new space this coming Sunday!

Undercroft kitchen demolition

A great crew of nearly two dozen intrepid folks showed up today to disconnect plumbing and electrical lines, pry cabinets off the walls, pound holes in countertops and generally create havoc, all in the name of saving us a few thousand dollars on demolition costs. Working against a deadline of the need for quiet for a wedding going on in the sanctuary, the job took a couple of hours of actual demolition, preceded by a few hours of sorting and packing. On Monday, the mechanical contractors will come to shut off the gas lines so that the stoves/ovens can be moved, and work will begin on the kitchen remodel. We anticipate being without any kitchen in the building for week or so, but pretty soon the little kitchen upstairs should be in service for after-worship coffee and other events.
My favorite picture from above is the bucket of old plumbing pipes. The one pipe has a huge rusted gash in it, and obviously has been that way for some time. We also found some treasures: a kitchen use handbook that warned us all not to smoke while preparing food, a set of pictures of wedding cakes from the 1950's ($20 for a cake that served 200), and an old "quantity" cookbook for church. That one contained, among other things, a Mexican gelatin salad. Yum.

Getting close to the end!

A few changes have taken place over the last few days, and the project on the main level of the parish house is really coming together. These photos show the new hallway flooring (the contractor finally figured out how to make it stick!), the little kitchen, just awaiting the stove, refrigerator and new dishwasher to be installed, the new countertop in the galley serving area, and the inside of the secretary's new office space. I really like the "feel" of the place, with lots more natural light from skylights and large windows, the way in which the space is now more flexible, and the updated colors and textures. And - this is really important! - the new bathrooms are open and usable!