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!

It's high time for a new post! But before you get to read about progress, you need to read this first:

We will begin demolition on the undercroft kitchen on Saturday, June 5, after the Community Meal - starting at 1 p.m. or so. Come grubby and expect to leave grubbier! We need as much help as possible to make this a quick-as-possible process. Refreshments will be served.

There have been some big changes lately, and other less visible work is moving along as well. In fact, we need two blogs to get all the pictures in. The pictures you see here (in no particular order, (because I can't figure out exactly how to order them the way I want!) you see the following:

There is new carpet in the west (front) hospitality area. It is lighter in the center with a darker border. Eventually we'll have seating areas, a small space for selling tickets, fair trade items and displaying brochures, and a display space for library items. Within the next couple of weeks we will be choosing window coverings for the three large west windows in this space.

The little kitchen has generated lots of interest and there are frequent inspections of the progress! The floor tile is an issue here as well (see next post), but all the cabinets are in place and countertop is installed. We will be having the visible cabinet surfaces painted. We weren't planning on this but they look pretty dingy against all new surroundings! The dishwasher and coffee maker are here and will be installed soon. Those will be very convenient for both Sunday morning coffee and receptions in our new space. The coffee maker is "plumbed in" so we will no longer have to drag it to the sink and fill it. It will brew a great deal of coffee when we need it. The dishwasher does a load of dishes in about two minutes, making short work of those Sunday morning coffee cups and sanitizing them as well.

See the next post for more....

(Continued from the last post....)

You see two views of the combined Chapel Lounge and East Assembly Room with the doors that can be closed to divide them. This area has a new carpet with brick red and tan tones, chosen to compliment the wood wainscoting and the mosaic, as well as tie the color tones of the sanctuary and narthex into the education wing. One picture is taken from the hallway side doors of the Chapel Lounge looking toward the East Assembly Room and the other photo looks the opposite way. Window coverings will also also been chosen soon for this space.

The pastor's desk has arrived and if s/he gets tired, there is enough space on top for a nap. It's pictured in the pastor's office, but we want to make it clear that the pastor will not have to sit on the ladder. We will wait for the new pastor's input before buying a new desk chair. People have preferences about these things, you know.

You have a view here of the receptionist office furniture being installed. The photo is a little misleading. The built in furniture will be black. The desk will be oriented so that the receptionist can see down the stairs and at least partially screen people who ring the doorbell. Sliding windows will be installed in this space.

You see that the water fountain has been installed. Below the fountain you can make out some broken tile. There has been a problem with tile installation - the tiles have simply refused to stick with the conventional glues that have been tried. No one is sure what the problem is. But the contractors have experimented with different things and hopefully they will be able to solve this soon.

It's coming together and should be finished within the next month or so. I'll keep you posted.

The Heisley Honorary Fountain

Before Pastor Heisley left Mount Olive for New York City, he participated in nearly every building committee meeting - more than a years' worth of meetings. He gave us many creative ideas and held up for us our ministry of hospitality. He also, as most of you know, has a great sense of whimsy. He loved the idea of a water fountain backed by colorful blue tiles. So we now have the Rev. Dr. William Heisley Honorary Water Fountain - or at least we have the tile back of the fountain. It does look like cool blue water, doesn't it? It will work well with the blue, green and neutral tiles on the floor when they're installed. Just another way to welcome guests to MO.

A Kitchen Decision!

At our meeting this week, the Building Committee - with the blessing of the Vestry - decided to move forward with the renovation of the Undercroft Kitchen, a project near and dear to the hearts of many at Mount Olive. The intrepid kitchen users at MO turn out great meals, both for the congregation and for the community, but they do so in less than ideal working conditions. We aren't able to afford an expansion of the kitchen or all new appliances. But we will be rearranging things to make better use of the available space. Currently the food prep area shares space with the dishwasher area, which means that "clean" and "dirty" can mix, not a good situation for maintaining food hygiene. You can see the proximity of these two spaces in the picture at the top. So the dishwashing area will be moved to the smaller room off to the side of the kitchen (the room with the small windows), and what is now the dishwashing area will be converted to prep tables and storage space. This should also make for better traffic flow, as dirty dishes can be taken directly to the dishwashing area without having to pass through the kitchen. The freezers and refrigerator that are in the small room will be moved into the larger kitchen, in space vacated by the sink and countertop at the rear of the room.

We expect that work on the kitchen could commence within the next month, and that means that we'll need all of the help we can get to pack up and empty the kitchen, and take down cabinets. Watch for more information about volunteer days in the Olive Branch.

More finishing touches

A few new details to point out: New doors on the three chapel lounge doors. In these views you can see one of them from the hallway side, and in another view you can see them from inside the unfinished chapel lounge, looking toward the west hospitality area. We have new doors on either end of the office suite. Also, most of the hallway lighting is installed, as are the hallway ceilings. What a great improvement that is! This week we hope to choose and purchase the new dishwasher for the little kitchen off the chapel lounge. We will also be looking at window coverings for all the new windows. The library committee will meet with the architect to discuss options for displaying books.

More furnishings

Pr. Holly has said that she wants her interim stay with us to last long enough so she'll be able to sit at a new desk in the new pastor's office. We're getting closer! As you can see by the previous blog the carpet is in, the walls are painted and progress is being made. I wanted to post a few additional pictures of furnishings and colors.

The desk used by previous pastors has clearly outlived its usefulness. Time for a new desk! The picture here is not the actual desk that we'll order, but you get the idea. It will be L-shaped in a dark mahogany finish. The pastor also needs a small seating area for counseling and small work groups. We will be re-upholstering the chairs from the old office, which were considered a type of Danish modern style and worth keeping. The fabric swatch is in this post. We may also use one of the cranberry sofas from the Chapel Lounge.

The library will now have essentially two spaces - some shelf space for display in the new hospitality space and the larger collection in the library/archives room in the northeast corner of the first floor. In addition to new shelves in the front space, we will need a library cart that can be used both for display and for transporting books between the two spaces. A suggestion has been made that a children's table and chairs be put in the front room as well.

Lots of decisions are ahead and I'll keep posting about them.

Carpet! Tile! Lighting!

Many finishing touches are starting
to appear in the new spaces. The bathrooms are tiled, painted and the fixtures are almost all installed. The offices and library/archives spaces are painted and carpeted. Lighting fixtures are being installed. The little kitchen cabinets are being re-installed. The "direction" of progress seems to be moving in something of a circle. The bathrooms will be finished first, progressing to the offices/library spaces, around to the little kitchen, then through the Chapel Lounge and the front hospitality space. Not much happening yet in the East Assembly Room, since that is the primary "office" space for the contractors.

At an adult forum this past Sunday I presented the progress, including where we are financially. I'm glad to share that info with anyone who wasn't there. The gist is this: while we will be able to complete the entire project, including the undercroft kitchen, within the $800K budget that the congregation authorized last fall, we will be short of our existing resources by about $35-$45K. This means that there will additional fundraising to do. The Capital Campaign group is working on that and you can expect some communication from them within the next few weeks.

The images that you see above are from the bathrooms, the view from the pastor's window to the door of her/his office (with brick wall), the new library/archives space, the secretary/receptionist office with the large window opening, and the little kitchen with cabinets being installed.

And now for the furniture....

There are a few items that were not included in our overall budget. So, we'll be depending on the members of the congregation to help out with these. We have a furnishings committee that's been hard at work picking out the best, most cost effective items, and I'm going to start posting pictures, descriptions and prices in case any of you are moved to donate one item or several. Perhaps you want to donate a piece in honor of someone. Or join up with a friend or family member to purchase something that many, many people will be able to use for many years to come.

Brian Jacobs (interior designer), Carol Austermann (skilled with all things relating to fabric) and Naomi Peterson (great "eye" and lots of history with decorating) have made several recommendations for the new spaces. Remember that there are three hospitality areas, a new library space and new offices that need furnishings. We'll re-use as many of the existing pieces as we can, but don't want to put old, outworn furniture in a new space.

Let's start with furnishings for the front (west) hospitality area. The plan calls for two seating areas, arranged back to back. Each area will have:

• loveseat (pictured above),
  
• two barrel chairs (existing chairs which have been in the Chapel Lounge),
  
• and two occasional tables.

In addition, we will be re-using the fabric benches that were in the Chapel Lounge and recover them with the scarlet fabric above. These benches will be placed under the three large windows in the front hospitality space.

Ambient lighting is currently under discussion, with the furnishings committee suggesting torchiere floor lamps placed between the windows along the west wall. Cost/feasibility of these is yet to be determined.

We're in the process of deciding on the priorities for furnishings in the new spaces. Some things will get top priority - it's always nice if the pastor has a desk, and a new desk is appropriate for a new space. But other items are perhaps not as obvious. So the Building Committee is looking at the function of the new hospitality areas (former office space, Chapel Lounge and East Assembly Room) and generating a list of events/classes/meetings that the new space will need to accommodate. Here's our list so far - does anyone have anything to add? Let us know.
Sunday morning coffee fellowship
Adult education (often two classes at one time)
Vestry and other committee meetings, ranging from large groups to small.
Event receptions (i.e., Mount Olive Fine Arts events)
Art shows
Small luncheons
Break-out sessions for larger conferences (i.e., Liturgy Conference)
Reception function (i.e., visitor's greeting area)
Bridal dressing area
Library space
"Respite" area for parents and restless children during worship
Retail space - Sales of event tickets, brunches, etc., also books and other Mount Olive items

Renovation Volunteers Needed!
Volunteers needed for Building Project! If you can help lay some laminate material on countertops in the new offices, please contact Mark Pipkorn at mpipkorn@transviva.com, or speak to Lora Dundek or David Molvik as soon as possible.

This is just the first call for building project volunteers. Over the next few weeks, as the construction workers, plumbers and finishers move out, we will need quite a few congregation members to move in with paint brushes, carpentry tools, pliers, screwdrivers and wrenches to help finish the work. In order to bring this project in close to budget, we planned quite a few do-it-ourselves projects. So expect that there will be more requests like the one above.

A look back.

No, this is not a new construction picture. Rather, it's an early picture Mount Olive, taken with the whole congregation in front of the building. I believe that this one was from the late 1920's, when the congregation was trying to find money to build what would become our current sanctuary. At that time, the life of the congregation was contained in the basement of this structure. Remember that finances were tough in that era, yet the church moved forward with faith that they would be able to raise the necessary funds. Sounds like a familiar scenario, right? We are again reaching a point where we'll be asking for support for some items that weren't budgeted in our current plan. We will be re-using many pieces of furniture, shelving, desks, etc. Carol Austermann has generously offered her time to reupholster, among other things, the benches from the Chapel Lounge to be put into the new hospitality space. The red couches will be used for the staff offices. But we'll still need some new pieces for the hospitality space, the chapel lounge and staff offices. Watch for news about how you can help.
There are no new pictures this week. I decided that even though there is progress, most people wouldn't be too interested in pictures of plumbing pipes now coming out of the floors in the bathrooms. The most visually exciting thing, at least from my point of view, are the new windows on two sides of the building. The new office spaces have all new windows, and the east assembly room now has two clear windows looking out the back of the building. Just perfect for natural light on sunny mornings! If you stand in the right places, you can see all the way from the Chicago Avenue side, through the chapel lounge and out the other side of the EAR.

Brickwork and sheet rock

I hadn't been in the building for almost a week, so it was easy to see progress yesterday. One picture you see here is of the finished - at least on one side - door openings to the chapel lounge. Three doors instead of one will ease congestion during large receptions. You also see the walled-in galley serving area, taken from the door of the little kitchen and looking through the serving window into the east assembly room.
Lots of progress has been made on the bathrooms. Much of the energy of the crew has been put into those. In the meantime, Mark Pipkorn and David Molvik spend many hours in the building, working with the construction crew, attending to details and making countless decisions about the best way to proceed. We all owe them a lot of thanks. And kudos to the staff for putting up with the noise and dust and general inconvenience. Hopefully they'll really appreciate the new space when it's finished.