After almost 4 years of planning we finally started working on the accessibility ramp on the Hampton side of the church. Protection for the tree at the corner is being put in place as well as the removal of the fence and hedges at the corner. Watch here for more info and pictures.
Progess made on July 8th in preparing the space for construction.
Removal of bushes and protection of the trees has been accomplished amid hot humid rainy weather this week. Miracles still do happen, over the first weekend that we protected the tree base with plywood someone decided they needed it more and took it. Over the next weekend it was returned, Hallelujah and thank you to whomever was responsible.
Sat July 10th
The Stroller area has now been moved.
New stroller enclosure in a new location.
Work happening on July 28th
Trees at entrance to Day Care prior to July 28th
Workers arrive to begin the felling of the trees. We are replanting 4 trees in another location in the city to replace them.
Trimming before felling the trees
Trees down, lots of firewood for someone! Now just have to get the roots out and some of them are embedded into the foundation of the church so that will be a lot of work.
July 29th
Roots being removed, lots of work
Workers hard at it even in the rain
All ready to begin the building of the Accessible Ramp
There will be 4 trees planted to replace the two removed from our site at another site in the city. We will be placing memorial plaques at each tree. Watch this space to find out where they are.
August 18th
The bump in has been straightened out and the fence moved. More room in the playground.
Aug 19th - While it doesn't look like a lot is happening right now our contractor is working on fixing our foundation. The roots from one of the trees we had to remove had not only eaten into the foundation, but had made their way into the inside of the basement. This all has to be fixed before the next stage of the ramp can be started. The joys of doing renovations.
August 19-20th The roots from the two trees that had to be removed are now also removed. One of them was very attached to the foundations and took quite a long time and a lot of effort to remove.
Wed Sept 8th Last of the items that needed to be done in order to get ready for the building of the ramp. Sandbox has been relocated and is a lovely new one with a lid to keep the animals from using it at night.
The new and relocated garbage area, with doors big enough to remove the bins for recycling, organics and garbage easily.
Jacek our contractor hard at work getting the new garbage area ready for use
Sept 9th Laying the foundation of the new garbage area
Sept 12th You always find more work when doing renovations, and not only did the trees root their way into the foundation but the branches started new trees in the eavestroughs. All fixed now and almost ready to start on the ramp.
Sept 17th Getting ready to begin the work of removing the windows and cutting a hole for the new door.
New entrance into the playground has been finished
Oct is a time for a lot of changes at St Barnabas. The three stained glass windows have been removed and there is a large hole where the new door will be placed. The bricks had to be removed one at a time so that they could be preserved and reused as they don't make them any longer. Great work by all involved, and the wall is still standing!
Oct 20th - holes for the support poles for the ramp are being dug. We have to be very careful around the tree at the corner of Danforth & Hampton not to damage the roots.
Nov 2nd
Pilons in place for the ramp. Lots of prep work done to make sure that the tree roots were not damaged.
All ready for the new door to be put in for our new accessible entry, Alleluia
Nov 9th
Our pixel Board is gone forever, stay tuned for our new sign
Nov 23rd
Gravel laid for the base of the ramp to be poured. Like everything it seems that we are delayed because of supply chain disruption because of covid. We are presently waiting for our door - we ordered it about a month ago and it will hopefully arrive in the next 2-3 weeks. We are also waiting for the forms for the pouring of the concrete for the new stairs and ramp. If the forms don't arrive before we have temperatures below freezing we will have to wait until spring to pour the concrete. There is a lot of delays in construction because of shortage of supplies.
Nov 23rd Looking good and ready, Pray that the supplies needed to continue the work arrive before it freezes so the pouring of the concrete can happen.
Here we are in a new year and things on our construction site look the same, for now! We have been awaiting a new door for at least 4 months because of supply chain problems. We have been advised that the hope is it will come the beginning of February. Once it arrives it will be installed. We are also awaiting rebar to put in the ground to support the concrete that needs to be poured. It is also hasn't be available for several months, however because concrete can't be poured when the weather is at the freezing point and there is a lot of snow on top of the ground we couldn't pour the concrete anyway. This part of the construction looks like it will have to wait until spring. We are having a positive perspective and pray we can plan a huge celebration on St Barnabas Day in June which we hope all will join us for.
April 20th Door finally arrives and getting ready to go in Hallelujah!
Getting ready to put it in place
Door installed and almost ready to go, just needs the motor and a ramp up to it!
And it's in!!!
May 5th, 2022 Our old main entrance door has been removed and the structure is in place for the new window opening with the large tv to project items for all on the Danforth to see. Also we have a new floor - awesome!
June 1st - the supports are in for the ramp so ready for the cement to be poured.
Getting ready to put in the new tv screen to show our announcements and other items for those walking the Danforth
June 8th - starting the supports for the ramp
June 8th - getting ready to build a ramp
June 11th - our new window that replaced the old entrance on the Danforth.
July 26th, 2022 - Our galvanized poles have been returned and installed. Another step closer...
More structure in place and now just waiting for the folks to finish it and pour the concrete
We get excited at the slightest bit of activity on the construction site! Got some on camera today!
Sept 18th, 2022
Bushes on Hampton have been removed to get ready to place the landscaping and seats and stones. Cement is coming soon. Our old tree is doing well according to the arborist.
Nov 5th, 2022 Work has started on the stairs to the ramp and the new entrance. Cement is to be poured shortly then landscaping can happen. Halleluiah !
Dec 1 - groundwork laid in order to pour cement for the base of the ramp. Pray for the weather to stay above freezing so the cement can be poured!
Dec 7th We have the form for the stairs, Hallelujah Now we just need an inspection and then we can pour cement.
Dec 11 - The welding is finally finished and is ready for the cement. It just needs an inspection first. Pray for warm weather because cement can't be poured unless the temperature is above freezing.
Here it is near the end of winter 2023 and our ramp looks the same! The good news is that we have passed all the necessary inspections and are ready to start the next step. That is the pouring of the cement. Unfortunately this can't happen until we have several days of at least 6C . So it looks like early spring before this work can be done. After the cement is cured, a couple of day, then the railings will be measured for and ordered. They will take 6-8 weeks to produce and then will be put in. We also need to prepare the area around the ramp and the corner as well as get a new garden planted. We will have a celebration to mark the grand opening and will advise everyone in the neighbourhood so you can come and celebrate with us. Watch here for more news as it happens.
Friday May 26th 2023 Hallelujah We finally have cement Big thank you to our contractor Jacek who through a lot of work got the cement poured on Friday Now we have to wait for about 6-7 weeks for the railing to arrive and be put in. Meanwhile the landscaping will be started. Nice to know that the end of is sight.
Things are still moving slowly but they are moving. The wood structures for the railings have been started. The railings themselves have been ordered and will take at least 4-6 weeks to make and then they will be delivered and installed. The landscaping will start shortly. Please pray that there will be good weather over the summer to facilitate the finishing of this long anticipated enhancement to our church.
The work is progressing on our corner. The ground is getting prepared for the laying of the stones and putting in the garden. The ramp itself is also having work done to prepare it for the lovely plexiglass railing that has been ordered.
June 18, 2023 the wooden railings are now in place, and the glass railings have been ordered. Things are moving along. Landcaping is also being worked on. Stay tuned
Sept 3rd, 2023
Two of our members, Kiki and Katherine, enter by the front door for the first time in months. We celebrate that we can use it once again. While the ramp is still not usable as we are awaiting the glass railing, we are able now to enter through the front door again.
New wonderful planters were installed this week (Sept 10th) and make our sitting area very special as well as drawing even more attention to our sign.