Last Minute Surprises...

Today we got a call from the folks who own the space we've been renting on Sundays.  They told us that the building is unexpectedly unavailable this week and we can't meet there this Sunday. 

Bummer.  

Although we know that Connections Church is bigger than a worship gathering- we still love hanging out with each other and seeking God together.

Then we got another call.

We heard that our new space had undergone it's final inspection.  We didn't completely pass. The inspector found multiple minor issues that need to be resolved.  

However...none of the fixes relate to life/safety issues.

So, we've been granted a temporary certificate of occupancy and can use the space this Sunday (3/29)!

Although we'd hoped to have a bit more notice and time to move in, we'll take it. =)  

So, come hang out with us this Sunday at 1280 Buck Jones Rd (MAP) at 10:45am.  The space will still be a work in progress and we'll be adding more touches in the coming weeks and months. 

But we'll be in our own spot- together!

And if you are free tomorrow (3/28), we'll be having an all-hands-on-deck, last minute workday to try and get as much done as we can before Sunday.  We'll get started at 10am.  Feel free to come and go as your schedule allows.

Closer.. But Not Quite There

This week brought us a couple of steps closer to being able to occupy our new space, but didn't get us all of the way there.

We had our final fire inspection on Monday and everything looked great.  Until the fire marshal noticed that we didn't have an anti-tamper switch installed on a fixture connected to our new fire hydrant.  

Our plans called for the switch, but somehow it never showed up. Our site contractor forgot to install it.  Our General Contractor didn't notice it's absence.  Nor did any of the 4 previous inspectors who came out at various times to check our new fire alarm system.  Guess that's why multiple inspections are required.  

So our contractor spent the last few days digging up the parking lot, installing this missing piece of gear and putting things back in place.

In the meantime, the local fire house came and tested our hydrant and declared it good for use by painting the top silver.  

This means that as soon as we can get the fire marshal to sign off on the new anti-tamper switch we can move on to our final inspection for occupancy.

On another note (either positive or negative depending on how you choose to look at it), our building got its first taste of graffiti this week.

While this isn't a huge hassle since we have our painters coming back out to do final touch ups anyway- it is ironic that the building never attracted graffiti in it's old, run down condition.  To look at the bright side of things- we prayed that God would place us in an area with needs- and He has.

THIS WEEKEND

Since we don't have our C.O. yet, we'll plan on meeting one final time at Delightful Inspirations this Sunday (3/29). Please join us in praying that we'll pass our final inspections quickly and be able to use our new building next Sunday (4/5).

Final Hurdles

Our contractor completed the last official piece of work on the building early this week by pouring a new access ramp for the front sidewalk.

We also had a sign company install our sign- which had been permitted separately.  Here are some shots of the process:

Now we're only lacking one test of our new fire hydrant and two inspections before we can use our new space.  As it is highly unlikely that all of this will happen in time for this Sunday (3/22), we'll be meeting one last week (hopefully) at Delightful Inspirations.  

So far we've hit a couple of small snags as different inspectors are asking us to do opposite things.  Please pray that the rest of this process will go smoothly and quickly and that we'll be able to start using the building as soon as possible.

Coming Down The Home Stretch...

The list of projects yet to be completed at our future space is getting really short.  

The exterior of the building and the sidewalks attached to it have been completely repainted. No more green!  The parking lot has also been re-striped.

We've had some of our folks working in the building over the last week and have able to finish a good number of our personal punch-list items: moving things out of storage units and into the new space, general cleaning, installing curtain rods and tv mounts, etc.

Here's a shot of the privacy film that one of our own installed on the Cry Room windows:

We are hoping to have our final inspection by next Tuesday. Please join us in praying that the inspection process will go quickly and smoothly.

Finally, we're continuing to round up the gear needed to make our new facility functional.  If you'd like to contribute to this project, note "Upfit"on your check and place it in the green bucket on the building info table this Sunday.  If you'd like to give electronically, you can make that happen HERE.  

Thanks for your help!

So Close.....

Our contractors are putting the finishing touches on our future space this week.  

The new flooring (carpet and vct) is almost completely installed:

Our awning over the rear stairwell (required by code) went up as well.

Having finished the interior painting, the painters turned their focus to the exterior.  The color on the far left is the existing paint, the middle color is a primer, and the color on the right is the neutral that will cover the outside of the building.

At this point we're incredibly close to applying for our final inspection to get our certificate of occupancy.  Please pray that this process goes quickly and smoothly and that we are able to move in as soon as possible.  

As much as we appreciate the folks at Delightful Inspirations who have been gracious enough to have us these last months, we're ready to start this next chapter of our life as a community.

Also, if you are free this Saturday, we'll be having another workday to finish our punch-list items.  We'll start at 10am.  Contact Shane Bazer (shanebazer@gmail.com) if you plan on helping.