Sunday, 21st June, 2009
It's the little things...
A number of men from the church have been spending time working at the building site doing the smaller jobs that need to be done. So far they've put up a new fence, done lots of tidying up and built a border for what will eventually be a path down the side of the new hall.
Up until now I've not bothered to take a picture of the mound of earth that was created from digging out the foundations. Well, I was at the building last Thursday evening, it was bright and sunny so I thought I'd take a photo. The pile is about 2m high and has its own little eco-system.
We're now just waiting for the roofer to come. There was a small possibility that he would come in June but as the month draws to a close it looks like the roof won't be going on until August. July is a holiday month for Belgian builders. Anyway, it's not a huge problem, we're still on schedule and within our budget.
Cracking Up
I'm not at church this morning having just come out of hospital after a minor op - gallbladder removal. Anyway, I'm going to make the best use of my time...
The builders have removed the poles that were supporting the first floor whilst the new concrete dried.
The only problem is that the weight of all that concrete has caused a crack to open up in the wall next to the staircase. This is a view from outside, taken standing in what will be the entry hall.
Apparently it's not actually that serious and will be able to be patched up without any further consequences. It looks a bit worse from the inside.
A few men from the church have been doing work here and there on the site. So as not to make this post too image heavy I'll post a couple of photos later on.
Friday, 29th May, 2009
More from the archives - Part 2
One of the decisions made in the June 2004 meeting was to put things on hold for a while, take a step back and have a think about what we wanted to do. At the end of 2004 I put together a new building committee and we decided to spend some time working on the best way to consult the church. We wanted to know what people would be looking for in a new building.
To that end we gave a everyone in the church a plan of the whole site along with more detailed plans of the building itself. We asked them to draw/describe their ideal church. We got a number of responses - the most interesting being an idea for a partially underground church.
Paul, mentioned in "Digging into the archives" produced this plan. As is obvious if you've already seen the plans here, this is pretty close to what we ended up with. Paul produced a wole range of detailed drawings to go with this one.
I had a go with a 3D building programme and came up with this. Quite pretty, if I may say so myself. It wouldn't have worked out though as there would not have been enough space left over to the side of the building. You're not allowed to build right up to the edges of the site. Still, I enjoyed doing the design and messing around with the programme.
One thing that we found out between projects was that we had more leeway for building than we thought. The first project had been developed with the understanding that we were limited to where we could build, that we had to stay within a certain area.
When we started the new project and hired a new architect he said, more or less, that we might as well see how far we could push the boundary. If the planning department didn't like it they wouldn't hesitate to tell us. So we ended up with the idea of constructing a new hall behind the existing building - and it was accepted. The biggest advantage of this design is that everything is on one level. We also still have the upstairs of the old building into which we can expand at a later date.
More from the archives - Part 1
Another dig into the archives this morning. The current building project is not our first attempt. From 2003 through to mid-2004 we worked on a project that, ultimately, didn't work out.
The church bought the building in late 2002 thanks to many generous gifts from people in the UK. We soon found an architect and he got busy coming up with ideas for how we could transform the building, an old warehouse, into a church. The images below show the final designs.
This is the downstairs. The idea was to add about 5m of new building on to the front of the existing building. That would add almost 50% extra floor space. Classrooms, toilets, kitchen and other bits and pieces would be downstairs. The design was compact and efficient.
Upstairs was to be used for the main hall. This actually meant that we'd need to raise the roof by about 50cm. I love the little piano in the right hand top corner of the image. On the left is an Overhead Projector - we've moved on from that now - we have a computer and video projector.
The architect was really good - very helpful and thorough in his work.
So what went wrong? We got to the point where the plans had been submitted to, and accepted by the planning department. We were ready to begin... and something came to light. At the bottom of both images, right in the middle is the word "ascenseur" - lift. This was added in the last few weeks of the project's life when it was clarified by the planning department that, because the church was to be a public building, we had to add a lift for access to the first floor. This immediately added about 100,000 euros to the project and put us outside of what we considered to be a reasonable budget.
We had a meeting of the buildng committee in June 2004 where we discussed all this and decided that we didn't think that it was right to carry on with a project where over a quarter of the budget would be used on a lift.
Why didn't we think of that before? At that point we were still pretty new to the building game. It just got missed. We thought that it was optional when it turned out to be a legal requirement. Our mistake. However, we learnt an enourmous amount from that failed project, knowledge which we have applied to this project.
At that June meeting Stephen Trump, the previous pastor, passed on the baton for the building project to me. In Part 2 I'll take a look at how we moved things on from there.
Monday, 18th May, 2009
Glorious Mud
Went to have a look at the building after the service yesterday. We've had a lot of rain over the last few weeks and the building site really does look like a building site at the moment. The picture was taken from the top of the steps that lead down from the back of the old building into the garden. Lots of mud.
We've reached that stage in the project where not a lot seems to be happening. All of the "big stuff" is in place and there's now only finishing off to do. The builder and his team have done about 90% of their work and will now have to wait for the roofer to do his job before they can pour the new floors downstairs. We do, however, now have a nice shiny floor upstairs. It will get even smoother too as someone will be coming in with a special machine to remove the (few) lumps that are visible.
This is the view downstairs from the stairway. The metal poles are supporting the upper floor whilst the concrete dries. In a couple of weeks they'll be removed and everything should hold in place. I have to admit I have visions of the whole lot coming crashing down because of the extra weight. Thankfully the architect, the builder and the engineer, who came on site to check everything out, know a lot more about this than me.
Finally, a look at the recently finished columns that will support the roof of the new hall. They're made of steel reinforced concrete and are incredibly smooth with a nice shape on the edges. Is that technical enough?
The building committee will be meeting in the next couple of weeks to start planning the next stage of the works. As always it will depend on finaces. A man from the congregation is taking early retirement soon and will be doing, with two others from the church, a large part of the interior work. We're very grateful for their willingness to serve. They also all happen to be very good at this kind of thing.
My job will be to stay out of the way - me and DIY just don't go together, just ask my wife.
Monday, 4th May, 2009
Where we're at - an update
This blog has been up for just over three months now. We've seen enormous progress in the work at the building site. Things have moved faster than we ever expected and the quality of the work is exceptional. Enthusiasm for the project remains high in the church. Guy gave an extensive update yesterday morning at church.
We have one great bit of news to announce: The Belgian Evangelical Mission (my employer) is going to be giving us 20.000 euros for the project. This money will enable us to make a start into Phase 2 before the end of the year. God is good! We've also received news of a gift from a francophone church in the UK. More info to come on that one.
In my post "Building Towers" from January I talked about setting a challenge for the church - to give 20,000 euros before Christmas 2008. The church responded and many people gave sacrificially. That continues, the flood has become more of a trickle but that trickle is fairly constant. Before I talked to the church about this challenge I was pretty hesitant about doing so. I thought that it was the right thing to do, but I wasn't sure. I can't claim a vision or a word from the Lord directing me. It just seemed sensible that if we were going to be asking other people for money we should show that we, ourselves, were prepared to give. Time, and people's generosity, seem to have proved me correct.
Over the summer it had looked as though the project was going to grind to a halt. The day before we left for our summer holidays I received a letter from the planning department in Arlon saying that our building permit was no longer valid - if, indeed, it had ever been. This was something of a surprise to say the least. I phoned François, met him the same night, handed over the letter and associated bits and pieces and asked him to deal with it. He did. Along with the architect he put together a response to the issues outlined in the letter and sent it off. We got a reply a few weeks later saying that our building permit was granted.
I'm still not entirely sure what happened there but I know that I reached something of a low point when it looked as if all of our work might have been for nothing. I had already been wondering how we could move ahead when we were missing a substantial part of the budget. I was not prepared to just forge ahead, believing that the money would come. There is, to my mind, a fine line between faith and presumption in this kind of situation. I wanted us, then and now, to stay on the right side of that line. For me, the fact that people responded to the challenge by giving enthusiastically was a great encouragement. It is what has kept the project going.
Monday, 27th April, 2009
Digging into the archives
Libramont's building project as been around for a number of years. It's been my intention for a while to have a poke around in the archives and present some of its history. Today's material comes from May 2004 via a CD I knew just had to be somewhere in my collection.
We decided to try and raise some money. To this end we decided to put on a "Fancy Fair" in the grounds of the building. Our hope was that people from the community would at least want to come and see what we were up to. We did have a few visitors.
That week we had a team from a bible college in the UK. To my absolute shame I can't remember all of their names. The first picture is of two of the team doing some face painting. The willing "paintee" is my son Zachary who would have been about three and a half at the time.
This is Paul relaxing in the shade. He was the church treasurer at the time. Sadly he died in May 2006. When I first started preaching in French I would send my sermons to Paul and he would read through them and correct them. I learnt a lot from him. He was a good friend and is much missed.
Our bric-a-brac table. I think nearly everybody from the church contributed something.
From left to right: Roseline, her son François (sitting on the chair in the background) is on the building committee. Naomi, my wife. Monette, Paul's wife, holding a lampshade. I'm not sure whether she bought it or not. Finally, Dom, a member of the team who's name I haven't forgotten. He was the first person to have his face painted.
We didn't raise a huge amount but had a great day together. Some of the bric-a-brac left over from the fair was still being stored in the building right up until the works started. It's now living in Roseline's cellar until we decide what to do with it.
Sunday, 26th April, 2009
More holes
A quick visit, in the rain, to the building after this morning's service. Things continue to move really quickly. The contractor has started work on the old building and has created a number of new holes for doors and windows.
First up, a view from the front. The two garage doors have been removed and space has been made for windows. When I arrived there were already a number of other church folk there having a look around. We all just ignore the "Stay off the building site" sign.
The entrance. The wall now has its slope and to the left there is a hole for a large window. This lets a surprising amount of light into the downstairs. Should give the place quite an airy feel.
Finally, the staircase. Although we won't be using much of the first floor initially we still need a way to get up there. So we now have stairs. The bottom step is rather tall, as I realised when I nearly tripped coming down after having a quick peek upstairs. We are planning on putting the heating unit upstairs which will give us a bit of extra space downstairs.
Last week marked the arrival (and payment) of our first invoice from the building contractor. 25,000 euros, or there abouts, in one go. I checked and rechecked the payment form in the online banking a number of times before clicking "Send". An auspicious moment.
Friday, 17th April, 2009
This is us...
We had a short meeting of the building committee "on site" last night. After a week of really beautiful weather it rained yesterday so the site was rather soggy. Lots of mud.
This is the committee standing in the rain. The photographer was in the old building. From left to right: Guy, Me, François and Keith.
The work is going well. All four walls of the new hall are more or less up. There were a couple of details that the architect had spotted that will require attention but nothing serious (or costly). The only large change made was that the contractors had to use more concrete in the foundations than expected as the ground proved not to be as good as previously thought. Whilst doing the digging they found a German soldier's helmet - presumably from World War II. Finders, keepers on that one I think.
It looks as though the builders are probably about a week off finishing the walls. After that the roofer can come in to start measuring up and putting on the roof. We have also just received a quote for doors and windows - about 2000 euros under budget.
In my last post I mentioned that I thought the floor of poured concrete would be going down this week. I was wrong. They're going to wait until the roof is on. Makes sense I suppose, wouldn't really want the new floor being washed away. I did wonder though whether the gaping holes in the side of the building would make a difference...
Monday, 13th April, 2009
As fast as a speeding bricklayer
A once a week trip to see the building site will soon not be sufficient. Things are moving on at quite a pace. We now have proper walls and a few holes have been knocked through in the right places in the old building. Below are a bunch of photos that I took yesterday after our Easter service.
First up is the sign that we've had made. François from the building committee has been a fairly regular visitor to the site and has noticed that the road past the building is actually quite busy on weekdays. The local hospital is a stone's throw away and there is also a local school nearby.
We had an interesting discussion about whether to put a bible verse on the panel or not. The main problem was finding something suitable. We figured that "Repent and Believe" might have been a little too in your face. We finally chose Hebrews 3:4 "For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything."
This is a shot looking into the new hall via the entrance way. The old building is on the left. This week the floor should be done. It is going to be made of poured, smoothed concrete. In time we'll probably put tiles down too.
This is the far end of the new hall. The first round of plans had a window running down the centre, then we realised that that wasn't too clever as there would be something of a glow behind whoever was leading or preaching. So now we are going to have two windows. There was some question as to whether we'd do stained glass or not. The general concensus was 'not'.
Here we're looking back into the old building from the far end of the new hall. Holes have been knocked through for access to what will be rooms for the youth, Sunday school and crêche. The toilets and kitchen will also been in there. The new hall has more or less the same surface area as the old building.
Last photo! This is looking at the back of the hall from outside. The black line is floor level. The hole to the left will be a door and there'll be steps down to the ground... I hope.
As I commented before, things are moving fast. Inevitably the work will seem to slow down somewhat once all the big stuff is done. It's still amazing to see it all happening though. It's also a great motivator for the church to see the project moving forward like this.