At their meeting this week the Building Committee chose ALTEL Systems, Inc. of Brewster, New York, to install the sound system in the sanctuary. The system will feature state of the art wired and wireless microphones, amplifiers and speakers and will provide amplified sound that will sound natural to everyone in the sanctuary. Most of the adjustments for the system will be made in a third floor A/V closet. Once the system is installed and adjusted there will be little to no need for any further changes to settings. This will minimize the chance of things getting changed by unauthorized users.
This week the security system installation will be finished. The system includes cameras in several locations and a recording and monitoring station in the Church Office. This will give us the ability to see what is going on in various parts of the building and to know who is entering and exiting. Once the system is armed it will require the use of specific codes assigned to those with authorize access. The system also gives us the ability to allow use of one part of the building while the rest of the building will be “armed”. The system also includes fire and CO monitoring with a direct connection to a 24/7 monitoring center.
Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The lack of heat on the second floor of the office wings has been an ongoing problem, which we believe has finally been addressed and the will be corrected in time for the Christmas Bazaar. There has also been a strong and unpleasant odor plaguing us for a couple of weeks. This too has been addressed and should no longer be of concern.
Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The concrete sidewalk on the west side of the building was scheduled to be installed this week. Measurements for the walk showed that the steps into the Memorial Garden needed to be adjusted in order to meet code. We were fortunate that Tom Moriarty of Moriarty Landscaping was able to come and adjust the steps right away. The sidewalk should be poured as planned this week. The completion of the sidewalk will mean that most of the site work will be completed.
Design work on the sanctuary ceiling and organ trough are nearly completed and we hope that work will begin within a few days on rebuilding the ceiling. It has been important to coordinate the ceiling structure with all of the necessary electric, heating, cooling and fire suppression ducts and pipes that are located above the ceiling. The ceiling problem has caused a major delay in the building schedule and we are now looking toward the end of March or beginning of April 2014 before we will be able to use the sanctuary. While no one is happy with this long delay, the Building Committee is committed to being sure the completed Meeting House has as few problems as possible.
Most of the carillon and bell system has been installed and several people we trained to use it on December 2. As various systems are competed in the Meeting House there will be other training sessions to make sure people know who to use the equipment correctly, efficiently and safely. We also hope to create a video archive of training sessions to be used in the future.
Watch for further updates in this space and remember, our website (www.somerscongregational.org) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SomersCongUCC) continue to be great sources of information.
