Campus Care

By Ron Burleigh

Hi to All-

Well, I guess 'Summer is Here'.  Air Conditioners are running full force now in all the occupied buildings . BCC has cleaned up and shut Calvin down (on the 22nd of May) for the summer.  As we ease into the 'doldrums' I'm reminded that this is my 4th summer at the church and yet still enjoy working on the facilities and keeping the campus looking good.  I have a big list of summer projects and hopefully can get most, if not all, of them done.

And now once around the church:

Church Grounds:

  1. Trees Trimmed: The two Podocarpus and one Pittosporum in front of the Chapel as well as the Sea Grape in front of the Fellowship Hall were trimmed back and cuttings removed.
  2. Plant Replacement: Two Pittosporum located next to the main entrance to Calvin Hall, as well as a memorial Pygmy Date Palm located in front of the main entrance to the Sanctuary had died in the last few months.  All of these plants were dug up and disposed off.  New replacements were purchased from Space Coast Nursery, and reinstalled.  If they live we should once again have shrubbery in 5 to 10 years!
  3. Electronic Sign: As mentioned in last months DBR the power supply had failed.  A new one has been received and was installed.  The sign is now up and operating properly again.  Additionally, the old antiquated electrical switch and connections located under the large metal box located by A1A were removed and all new switches and connections installed.  The rework also included the installation of a commercial surge suppressor system that will prevent most power surges from reaching the power supplies.  This along with a better grounding system should help protect our new power supply.
  4. Florescent Sign: Our secondary sign located on A1A was in bad need of replacement or refurbishment.  After a trip to Cocoa Beach City Hall to inquire on code requirements it was decided that refurbishment was a much better choice, since new code decreases the allowed square footage of a secondary sign . A bad ballast and numerous internal electrical hardware failures will be part of its upcoming rework.  The sign will then be cleaned up, repainted and new letters purchased to make it move visible from A1A.  Estimated Completion Date (ECD) is mid June.
  5. Dirt Fill Added: Dirt fill is being added as time permits to the road that runs out towards the retention pond in the West parking lot.

Calvin Hall:

  1. South Door Dead Bolt: This lock was broken during an opening/closing process.  The lock was subsequently removed, rebuilt and reinstalled.

Knox Hall:

  1. Knox Front Door: The Knox front door sign has needed reinstalling.  Lag screws into the concrete were used this time to insure its permanency.  Additionally, the two Chinese palms immediately outside have been trimmed back to insure unfettered access.

Fellowship Hall:

  1. Clearstory Bulbs: The four large bulbs located in the clearstory feature in Fellowship Hall have been replaced.  This bulb replacement required use of the very long extension ladder and some 'nervy' climbing.
  2. Stage Cleared: Since last summer, a surfing type backdrop use for VBS was left hanging at the back of the stage.  Since there was a 4’ space between this back drop and the rear wall, it became the storage spot for all unwanted/unclaimed material.  The drop was removed recently.  Material was presented to the responsible Commission and all unwanted/unclaimed material was discarded.
  3. Audio Visual Cart: The casters on the cart that carries the projector/VCR-DVD units have been falling of the cart when rolling it which could be catastrophic is the cart fell over with the units on them . These casters have now been modified to permanently lock them into the cart.
  4. Art Displays: The original art display by Joe Marshall was disassembled and the historic Cocoa Beach photos of Joe Morgan’s were installed.

Sanctuary:

  1. Spot Lights: In the last DBR, I mentioned that 15 spotlights were replaced.  Well, I'm now trying to locate a company that will help with the very high ceiling lights, some of which have electrical problems.
  2. Hearing Aide Repair: One of the hearing aids was damaged.  Broken solder joints were resoldered and the device put back into service.

Chapel:

  1. Sacristy Roof: The Sacristy (robe room) roof was very near the end of its useful life.  It is a flat roof and had numerous leaks on its edges and had areas that were pealing up.  I told the Property Commission that we could replace it but that I thought that I could get another 4 to 5 years out of it by resealing the surface.  That resealing has now been complete with 2 coats of elastomeric.  When the main roof requires replacement in the next 4 to 5 years the entire building including the Sacristy can be redone with new material.
  2. Wall Speakers: The existing speakers being utilized by our Contemporary Service band are currently located on speaker stands behind the performers.  These speakers, because of their location, were providing too much background sound to the group so wall brackets have been installed in the two corners of the chancel area.  These speakers will be remounted onto these brackets providing a better overall sound for the group as well as church members.

Setups & Tear Downs:

So, until next time I’ll be seeing you around Riverside.