Sunnyhill New Home

Today was a very busy day at Sunnyhill. A small, hardworking group arrived at the church with buckets, rags and cleaning materials to clean and move all the church furniture from rooms in the new addition, where it had been stored, back to the old sanctuary, which is now our fellowship hall. Thanks go to Pam and Charlie Cook, Judy Kelly, Judy Armstrong and Jim Heltman for rolling up their sleeves to clean and move very dirty furniture. Fortunately, we were aided by a professional crew of seven experienced cleaners, but our participation made the job go more quickly and saved us several hundred dollars. The cleaning was in preparation for a walk-through by the New Home Construction Team and our architect, RDC. During the walk-through, we will develop a punch list of items that need to be attended to before we will sign off that the building has been completed to our satisfaction.

The front lobby has been cleaned and is ready for some final touches. The door will be stained and sealed and an ADA compliant automatic opener will be added. Once that work is done, the tile will be polished and sealed to bring back its original luster. Instead of a carpet, we will have a runner from the front door so we can expose as much of the tile as possible.

From this different angle, the entrance from the new fellowship hall to the new addition can be seen. There will be a video monitor showing church activities mounted on the small wall between the square arches, and Bethany will set up her welcome table just in front of the wall. Back in the lobby, the name tag table will sit to the right of the doorway. The white areas above and below the windows into the stairwell will be paneled to match the style of the lobby. These windows were once doors to the north wing hallway and the small storage closet. We are looking for volunteers to paint the lobby so it is as fresh and inviting as the rest of the church.

The administrator's office, aka Roy's office, has been cleaned and window sills have been added. A small bench will be installed below the window on the far right to cover the pipe to our outside water faucet.

From his desk, Roy will be able to see vehicles entering the driveway. This view is northeast.

The Carol Karl (choir) Room has also been cleaned.

A few things remain to be done. The light fixtures seen in this photo are being replaced. These fixtures are designed to throw 80 percent of the light up and 20 percent down. The lights create awkward shadows that diminish the drama of the cathedral ceiling. In addition, the fixtures do not provide enough illumination to comfortably read music or RE materials. A ceiling speaker will also be added. It will allow people in the room to listen to services and other events in the main room. 

The eight-foot high doors are dwarfed by the scale of the room. 

Moving to the far end of the hallway, the Oak Room has also been cleaned and is ready for inspection. Chris and Dorothy Burns have naming rights to the room and have named it to honor the Sunnyhill Oak. Claire Pullen has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the oak, which will hang in the room. The portrait will be framed using red oak from our tree.

The Oak Room has windows facing north and east.

Even as we clean some rooms in the new building, work continues in other areas. Adding the banister to our new stairway has been a challenging job. The joinery is so complex that our finish carpenters constructed a template railing out of pine and used it as a master to cut the angles on the maple railings before installing them.  

The banisters will be stained and finished in place. There is still a lot of work to be done on the stairway including treads, risers, tops for the newel posts and more maple trim.

All of the furniture, books and other RE materials temporarily stored in the large basement classroom have been moved to other areas of the basement so the room can be carpeted.

Now that the old carpet has been removed, the floor will be scraped and leveled where needed before new carpet is installed.

The stairway at the end of the hallway under the kitchen is a primary emergency exit from the basement. These steps were treacherous.

TEDCO not only repaired the steps, they made them more uniform, which also makes them safer.

You can't leave the basement without peeking into the new mechanical room. Part of this room was the old furnace room and part of it was the nursery. In the foreground is the furnace that will provide hot water for our new hybrid system and our old circulating hot water system. The two red pumps in the background will circulate the water through both systems. Once the controls are in place, this installation will be complete.

Speaking of controls, this is a typical arrangement in the new offices and classrooms. Each room has a dedicated heating and cooling system controlled by the thermostat on the right. This system will allow us to keep vacant rooms at lower temperatures to save on heating and cooling costs and reduce energy usage. On the left is a motion sensor light switch. Lights go on automatically when you enter the room and go off a short time after exiting -- another cost and energy saver.

Access to the HVAC system and to storage in the attic is via this ships ladder. At a 75 degree angle with steps one-foot apart, the ladder will be difficult to ascend and descend for some. It's important to remember that for safety one must face the ladder whether you are going up or down.

Popping outside for a moment, we had a brief view of the door while the protective plastic was temporarily removed.

With the under-story and encroaching evergreens removed, the beauty of our new Sunnyhill Red Oak can be better appreciated. Once our landscaping has been completed the tree will be the star of our front lawn and a focal point for the peace garden. She looks just like her mother at that age.