Weekly Update from Crystal Mersh, President, The 1982 Foundation:
It has been a busy week for the project and for my real job as I call it. We have projects gearing up all over the world. It is good to see things coming back to normal and people traveling again.
I got a personal tour today with Nick Wilt Project Manager of The Viking Group, our historical general contractor from Charleston.
We toured the bottom floor which is now almost complete with demolition. Walking through there on a late Friday afternoon surely brought back memories. It is something about the breeze that blows through that bottom floor and the smell that reminds me of home football and band. The rooms for the community kitchen and the teaching kitchen are going to be so very nice and showcase lots of appliances and stainless steel. Both are near what will be the back courtyard and allow for inside/outside events. The second floor also was very open and huge after the removal of the fire suppression system and piping. Also it does look like we will be able to save the tile in the old bathrooms. One of which will be the fitness center (bottom floor) and one will be the art classroom (second floor).
The back area is now ready for steel and construction. We had to install two more bathrooms in this space specifically for the restaurant. We have also met with the ABC folks and have confirmed that we can serve alcohol on a site with a school providing there is 200ft from front door to front door via the road way. The school floor will of course be blocked from the restaurant with alarmed exit doors.
This area is really beautiful and will have the exposed steel beams, red brick, and concrete floor that is 80 years old and still looks great. A second floor balcony will jet over the first floor by about 3 feet so you can easily see both floors from all vantage points. We plan to locate the beautiful red pizza oven in the front of the kitchen so that the smell of the wood fire and the light of the fire can add to the ambiance.
We are coming down the home stretch with the pool. The diving board pads were poured and the pool was plastered again this week in order to ensure good coverage. The remaining concrete pads were all poured except for one which will be done next week. The pump house exterior is now complete. The side of the pump house facing the stage is painted white and will provide a nice surface to show films in the summer. We are changing plans for the fencing and will be going to a powder coated black aluminum 6 foot fence which will also be used around the children’s play area.
Next week grading of the area to the left of the gym will be initiated by Hardway Construction. They will also level up around the pool and complete that finish. Once the site is leveled to grade and the final architectural plans are delivered, then the foundation and block work will begin on the Children’s Learning Center.
Next week we will meet on site with our general contractor, architects, and project management. We will do one more review of detailed construction drawings for finalization at the end of the month. We will also be meeting with a prospective window and door national supplier on site.
Once Hardway finishes the site preparation work, that team will then go to the top floor to frame in apartments. 84 lumber will be delivering a large load of lumber to the top floor next week.
We are preparing for our last Spice event of the season, an authentic Hawaiian luau. This will be the 10th event we have hosted; all of which have sold out. We are pleased to share fine dining and cuisines from around the world at an affordable price, as well as a little bit about our travels to these places.
We hope also next week to close on our new office located on Main Street. Once the transaction is complete we will be moving into the main floor so our team has a place to work together comfortably.
And last but not least, we are making lots of little rocks out of big rocks to be recycled into the base layer under areas for construction. The rock crusher is always busy.
I wish you a beautiful upcoming week, and many blessings from above.
With lots of love,
Crystal
