CNSTRCTN Vol. XI, #2 On the Wings of Imagination.

Memories, like birds--fleeting.  They must be grasped and held in heart's hands

A better idea of small windows in the sanctuary comes with this photo.  Note the number and that what you are seeing is only the right side of the sanctuary area.  The other side has the same number but not in a symmetrical pattern.  (Asymmetry keeps us on our visual toes, but may not satisfy those who like all their
ducks in an orderly row, or don't like visual surprises.  Understood.)



Moving inside the old chapel space, the viewer gets a hint of where the new entrance to the chapel from the outside, will be.  Seeing the honeycomb wall on the right of this photo helps to locate the area in the back of the old chapel.  The door across the presumed entrance hallway is a new door--never there before.  It is roughly where the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was.  Notice the top of the photo; you've seen that ceiling before, you may recall, in photos of the room-like structure inside the chapel, and to the right of the future entrance from the hallway.  (Keep your imaginations in good shape, remember.)  Blogger won't leave you totally in suspension, however.  Therefore...


Behold the room-like structure with the two mystery doors (not really) on the upper level.The door on the right wall will come from the elevator area (yes, it will stop on the 1 1/2 level),
while the door on the left will open up in the hallway on that level.  This may be an area you have never been on, but it IS there and holds various administrative offices and a large meeting
room.  If you can do some mental dancing around here, you may be able to get a good notion of the floor plan of this area.  The new part of the chapel, by the way, extends out to the right off this photo and toward the soccer field.


You're doing well.  Now to substantiate the mental images you've been working hard on...
What you're seeing in this photo is the scaffolding for the construction of the elevator tower.  In-between the scaffolding and the chapel wall will be the path to the outside entrance to the
chapel hall, a nice accommodation for people coming for a
religious function or a quicker access to the offices in the east
hallway.  Also you note that scaffolding extends laterally toward you, which means that it is in front of classroom windows, therefore classroom space.  The plot thickens.  But that is for another day.

It's pretty obvious that much thought has been given to all this.  Blogger continues to be utterly amazed at the mastery of detail and ingenuity of the builders.  We trust we will remain in awe of the same.  Au revoir.

CNSTRCTN Vol. XI, # 1 Workers Spring into Action, in the Snow

Memories like birds, fleeting.  They must be grasped and held in heart's hands.

We will start this second week of April noting that, during this past week with the students on holiday, the workmen were able to accomplish much.  These photos won't tell the whole story because of blogger's restricted access.  We'll begin with an outside look into the work yard with a heartening thought, blogger is supposing:
to wit, aren't you glad your yard doesn't look like this?  It's the little things in life...




At the other end of the yard full of stuff which you're glad you don't have to deal with, there is more progress in the offing.  The scaffolding is near the newest addition of masonry going toward the soccer field.  It won't go farther, blogger is thinking, because there is still so much going and coming of large pieces of equipment needed inside the extended part of the chapel.  That new section of wall whispers of hope.



Now to the inside with a few interesting elements of progress and one lingering reminder of what used to be.  We'll look at that first. What you see in this photo (enlarge it for better effect) is a cut-away of the old wall that used to be outside the president's office.  Sturdy piece of construction.  It occupies the middle of the photo and is, as you can see, layers wide.





       This photo is placed here just to show that there is still some serious work to be done in the CLC




As new doors are opened, old ones are closed permanently.  In this case it is the former outside door of the faculty room.




And just to emphasize that the faculty members will still be able to leave the building conveniently, here is the new door opening to replace the one just closed off.  Don't they think of everything!
We move now into the end of the big week of Easter celebration to the less spectacular, but still celebratory, Easter season.  May your Easter season bring daily reminders of the blessings of God's incarnation.  How so?  Today is the feast of the Annunciation, postponed because Mar. 25, the real day (--nine months before Christmas) landed on Palm Sunday.  So there you have it.  It's a very nice way to start celebrating the Easter season.                                                  Stay tuned.

CNSTRCTN Vol. X, #4 Full-Steam Ahead Almost

Memories, like birds--fleeting.  One must grasp and hold in heart's hands.

The construction crews were here in force on Holy Thursday, the first day of the students'
spring break.  One worker made mention to blogger that now they could make noise!  She rejoiced with him.

In the photo you see one of the few room divisions beginning to emerge at the east end of the CLC.  Perhaps they are intended to accommodate small groups of students working together on the same project--certainly not a new venture, but now more convenient and out of the hallways.

Looking at the large area of the CLC you can see that a new doorway has been broken through from the faculty room.  Since the door closest to the new windows used to be the outside door, a new outside entry is being worked on where the last faculty room window next to the original outside door was. (If you got lost in this last sentence, blogger bumped her nose three times.)



What you see to the right is a development developing (yes) on the second mezzanine level, aka known as the library level (old).  The beam by this time is up crossing the room pretty much where the photo suggests, i.e. straight up.  Recall that that area will end up being three classrooms (blogger thinks it's three, but maybe it's two.  We are all learning as this adventure unfolds, and especially if we don't have easy access to the plans.)



Now to the other end of the construction site, things have been
moving right along in the last few days of March.  More concrete blocks have been delivered near and in the new chapel extension, ready for the end of rain/snow.  Things at this stage of progress always look so messy, but ah, to think ahead...





                                                                           
 Nearby is the site of the future outside entrance to the chapel and the elevator hallway.  The general area of the elevator hallway becomes a little clearer in the photo since you can see the removal of a section of windows.  There's pretty much work left to be done in this whole area, even on the inside, as you can imagine.  That whole window unit used to be in the last classroom at the end of Hilton Hall (the main hall on the first floor.  Is that name for the hallway new to you?)  Before we end March's story, and looking at this last photo, note the elevator shaft-well in front of the windows-that-used-to-be.
Leaving well enough alone at this juncture, blogger will let you go and rest up for another exciting adventure of CNSTRCTN, as we launch into April and Vol. XI.  Happy first week of April as it resonates with the Easter miracle.