There has been quite a bit of progress on the new fire alarm system since my last blog entry. Most of the new work has involved installation of electrical conduit on walls and ceilings to allow wiring of various alarm components to the new alarm panels. Since our new system is being installed in an existing building, not new construction, several places do not have access through an attic or other convenient access point, and we have to install some surface mounted conduit for the wiring needed for sensors and other components. This will be a new look for us. I'm sure we will get used to it in time.
Soon we will be doing installation work in the sanctuary. This will involve installation of new sensors in the overhead areas as well as other new components. Some work will involve the use of an aerial lift to get access to the high overhead areas. Our contractor estimates that the work with the lift could take about a week to complete. Because of the type of lift planned for this job, I am hopeful that the work will require minimal movement of chairs or other items. We will have to temporarily remove some obstacles for the aerial lift such as the monofilament lines used for the banners to the iron ring chandelier.
There is still quite a bit of work remaining for completion of the new system, but progress is being made. As they say, to make an omelet you have to break some eggs. Sometimes you break an egg when you didn't intend to. This was the case last week when a worker installing new conduits accidentally drilled into one of our heating lines, and we lost heating in the sanctuary for a couple of days. Heating has been restored to one of the two heating zones serving the sanctuary, and this is sufficient to provide all the necessary heating in that space. We have redundant capacity for the sanctuary, so either of the zones has the capacity to heat this space. We plan to repair the line to the second zone of the sanctuary heating sometime after the heating season has passed. As always, many thanks are due to our very able heating system volunteer, Jim McKenna, who isolated the damaged portion of the system and put the remaining system back into service. We are so blessed to have his time and talents available to us.
The Thursday group has completed what I have dubbed "Operation Mouse" in the kitchen. This has involved removing materials from many cabinets in the kitchen, sealing off access points for mice, cleaning cabinet interiors and item stored there, and returning items to the cabinets.
The Thursday group has also continued to work on resolutions to problems that the Newington Fire Department identified as violations in their last formal inspection of the building. The violations involved a variety of items such as excessive step-off height at several emergency doors, areas where additional emergency lighting and signage was required, and several cases where existing fire doors were not operating correctly. By the time you read this article, the Newington Fire Department will have been in the building to complete a follow-up inspection on the violations. One of the fire doors has been particularly difficult to fix and may require replacement. I will tell you more next time.
David Mercer, Property Team Leader.