Meeting House Consructin Update - July 25, 2013

Details!  As those who have been involved in a building or construction program know, there are many details that have to be considered and addressed in completing a building project.  The Meeting House construction is a big project with lots of small things to be considered and coordinated.

The design and finish for the pews has been determined and the Building Committee is making sure the hymnal rack on each one will include space for communion cups and the pew cards we have used, as well as a slot for a pencil.  As in the previous, the new sanctuary will have eleven rows of pews and there will be candleholders that can be attached to alternating pews on the center aisle for candlelight services such as Christmas Eve and some weddings.  The aisle candles that were lost in the fire were designed and created by Dick Larson nearly twenty-five years ago.  The new ones will be created by the same company as the pews, but we are fortunate to have received a gift of mahogany wood from Dick and Anne Larson that will be used to make them.

The Building Committee looked at suggestions from the Design Team and chose light fixtures for the front entrance, sanctuary, Pilgrim Hall and the meeting room.  Once the decision had been made we discovered the first choice had been discontinued, and we needed to review options and choose again.  We believe we have selected fixtures that will provide lots of light and will fit well in the overall design and feel of our building.

One of the inconveniences in the old Meeting House was a lack of electrical outlets that made using multiple appliances in the kitchen tough and called for creative use of extension cords in other rooms.  The new Meeting House will have plenty of circuits so they won't get tripped when we are in the middle of an event or meal, and there are plenty of outlets in each room so extension cords will not be needed.  It took some thinking and discussion about the potential uses of various spaces in the building for the Building Committee to identify these needs.

The Building Committee has devoted time to considering the acoustics in both the sanctuary and the Foundation Room.  Obviously the rooms have very different uses and very different needs for sound amplification and so we have worked closely with our Acoustician who developed a plan for the systems in each space.  In the sanctuary there will be a system for the hearing impaired as well as microphones for speakers, the choir and soloists.  An important feature of the new system will be the ability to amplify sound while keeping it “natural”.  In the Foundation Room the system will help to keep the sound spread evenly around the room making the room better for presentations.  A preset feature for both systems will mean that once it is in place there will be no need for further adjustments.

Work continues on the steeple and the scaffolding will remain in place until it is complete.  Installation of the custom window frames is underway.  There are photos shared on our webpage www.somercongregaional.org and Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/SomersCongUCC