Read the article here.

Yesterday marked the third Sunday we've had to adapt to closed corridors. Thank you for being flexible and patient. We think we've communicated about closed halls--have talked a lot about the detours--but we didn't get the word out to everyone. SORRY! We're working on doing a better job on signage.

Things have moved quickly on the demolition--until last week. The hall outside my office--the old sidewalk that got covered and converted into a hall--has proven to be a major challenge. The concrete under the outer wall was about 3 feet thick--much thicker than needed. So, a jack hammer was used to break up the concrete. But the concrete against the wall is today's hurdle. Conventional wisdom calls for an expansion joint to be placed against a building to allow for--well, expansion. Whoever built the walk didn't follow practical procedures. Instead, rebar (reinforcement bar) was added to the foundation of the building, then bent up for the walk. Concrete was poured next to the brick--without an expansion joint. You'd have thought they were building a sky scraper. Consequently, the jack hammer is back, working to peel the residual concrete from the walk away from the building. As I write it is just outside my door and the noise in my office is so loud you probably won't be able to hear yourself think as you read this blog.

So, we have officially met our first delay in the construction project. This over-engineered and over-built simple side walk is costing the workers hours and hours of time. Randy Moss, the construction superintendent, is not happy about the delay. He wants things done yesterday. But such is the case when you remodel--you never know what you're going to encounter along the way. So, one small delay--wish it would be the last but know it won't.

Oh, the hall outside the old library and room 10C is now down. The foyer connecting the worship center with the rest of the building is still standing--at least for today. Work progresses.

Yesterday was wild as we saw hall walls fall and trees go down. Today was more of a clean-up and get ready day. Roofers were here today working on the student building and office hall. The overhang from the roof has been trimmed back to accommodate the new construction which exposed the building. The roofers covered the exposed area.

We also had electricians working in the newly abated area, getting ready for the demo to occur in the future office suite. It appears that outside walls from the foyer south will be under attack tomorrow and wrecking hammers will remove walls for the new offices.

I once had a staff member who constantly said, "Before you do something, you have to do something else." Such has been the case today as cleanup and prep work--not the highly visible and intensely exciting stuff--took place to allow the next highly visible work to happen.

It's been a good day.

My office is the one originally used by Hank Scott when the church was first built.  This office has what was an outside door. Later the walkway was enclosed and this outside door became an inside door. That changed today. My door is once again an outside door.

Did you catch my subtlety? The outside hall that parallels the church offices is GONE! From the foyer north to the student building, it is GONE! Tomorrow they'll begin on the hall from the foyer south. For the moment we get to keep the foyer (bottleneck--whatever you want to call it).

We've also lost many of our trees. That statement for Lubbock normally would be a sad thing but I think it's a good thing for us. The trees in front of the worship center are not particularly good looking trees and the canopy is too low. They have provided camouflage for our worship center--not really a good thing for a church that desires to be seen. So, removing the trees will highlight our building. (I anticipate folks suddenly realizing there's a church here and wondering how long we've been here.)

So, the news for today--mass destruction. But that's a good thing. Soon the destruction will become construction. Fun times at Bacon Heights.