The Youth Center has been opened downstairs. The Juice Bar and Internet counter still need to be built – but the space is open and already in use! The old parlor kitchen cabinets have been re-employed and look wonderful in the new Youth Kitchen. It is such a wonderful open space the name ‘Cave’ has become counter-intuitive! Upstairs, organ upgrades are still underway and there are still boxes of pipes to be installed. We hope to have the organ fully operational by Christmas. The sanctuary folding doors will be made accessible once the new reception area is completed.
Carpeting for the sanctuary aisles is planned for the future. Enjoy the exemplary acoustics with us until then! The Bell Tower renovations continue and are almost complete. The donated works of Jack Guild, John Almendinger, Louis Kilgore and Al Donato will be appreciated by the whole congregation once the new arched glass doors are installed. These will provide wonderful light into the sanctuary and a beautiful view of the historic foyer. Our hope is that this inviting entry will also become a beacon to those who pass by so that our ministry will extend further into the community. These doors and renovations were made available through the Capital Campaign and by action of session, some Memorial Funds in part from the family of Frances S. Bean. Planning is underway for new memorials and to re-display all existing memorials that have been waiting to be displayed again.
Phase 2 construction projects are fully underway; some already completed over the summer. The financial office was moved from the CAVE to the 2nd floor – formerly the Choir Director’s office. Tom Rodgers’ newly reconfigured office is now conveniently situated in the Choir Room. The beautiful parlor bookshelves dedicated by Marie and Ed Malone in memory of George and Angela D’Angelo (built by Bill Stalker) were moved to the Choir Room and are a lovely and fitting addition there. New reception area windows, a memorial to the life of Dusty by Bill and Marion Crum, will be made by NJ Hardwoods. Work in the reception area has been delayed for 2 weeks as structural problems were uncovered during demolition. Persimmon Engineering provided engineering documents to resolve the deflection found in the beam that supports the choir room floor. DRG Architects needs to supply construction documents against which inspections can be done for work to proceed. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes. We continue to thank our church staff for continuing their work in spite of jack-hammers, blocked off offices, restricted movement through the church, and new waves of dust and dirt. The new reception area should be complete by December.
Costs (intrinsic and extrinsic) are being considered by the committee and by session regarding the lack of ADA-compliant access to all 3 levels of the church. Capital Campaign Pledge payments are on target (75% payment at 77% of campaign period) – Thank You! Advances against pledges due are being paid from our endowment reserves. Early payments to your Capital Campaign pledge will be put to immediate use as construction is due to complete 6 months prior to the end of the campaign. If you have not made a pledge to the Capital Campaign and would like to know more about the projects both completed and pending, please call Betsy Kamienowski (908-642-0955) or Pastor Kilgore (732-356-3575) for an appointment.
Faithfully yours, The Building Committee - Beth Bowlby, Dave Costain, Lester Erich, Ray Ferreira, Betsy Kamienowski, Louis Kilgore, Tom Rodgers, Carol Wilson, and Advocate Al Donato
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