Restoration Updates - January 9, 2012

Phase I: This phase of the Grace Church Restoration program is complete. We are in planning mode for Phase II.

Wedding Door: We are currently interviewing prospective contractors to do the work on the door. The stairs are complete with Phase I.

Bell Restoration: We are in conversation with several Bell Restoration companies about the bell restoration part of the work. We hope to have had a final decision about the bell contractor by mid to late February.

Phase II: It seems that we are on track to begin this work in late spring or summer of 2012. Our Architect is finalizing plans and developing bid documents for this phase relating to mostly the bell tower. We hope to get this out to bid in February.

New Parish Heat System (s): We are currently in conversation with four heating contractors about the new system (s). Grace Church parishioners should be aware of the fact that the heating system for the Church only is in really bad shape, and running about just over half capacity. With winter upon us, there is a slim possibility that the system will not operate to full capacity for Sunday services, especially if we have extreme severe cold weather. We do not anticipate this occurring but in the event the Church is not sufficiently heated, the 8am and 10am services will be moved into the Wiles Parish Hall. We have tested the system with outside temperatures of 15 degrees, and it has been able to keep up, but we do not know if it get colder than that.

If Sunday services are moved into the Parish Hall, parishioners will be notified via email by early Sunday morning. The heating system will be replaced and upgraded sometime in the spring or summer.