Check out this cool find inside a wall on a renovation project
You never know what to expect in the walls of a renovation project. There are always things hiding from the construction process in the past. From coke bottles to beer bottles things get tossed inside of walls and sit there for years waiting to be exposed again. On a recent project in downtown Harrisonburg, this cool find was inside a wall. The date on the newspaper is April 18, 1973 about two months before I was born. The contractor found it as he was doing demo and it was just left on the floor in the pile of trash.
As I return to blogging, I am going to take a less technical approach to my writings. I will still include projects we are working on, technical posts, but also just thoughts from an architect trying to figure out life.
I have been thinking a lot about the state of our nation as we move into the next election cycle. I have asked questions about gun control, prayed about gay rights, wondered what my girls will face and what they will be called as strong-willed confident women, and examined my own motives for decision-making. I admit that I don’t have most of the answers, but I can see how broken we are as a nation.
On the other hand, I can see hope all around us. It is local, it is happening, and it is going to make a difference. That hope rests in those working to respect others. I see it in students working to convert a modular classroom into a zero energy science lab for future students. I see it in Climate Action Alliance of the Valley working for a better future for generations to come. I see it in Meg Carpenter as she volunteers time to raise awareness about affordable housing. I see it at Rotary Club of Rockingham Countymeetings each week from a room full of people serving their community. I see it in Matt Findley who gives and gives to kids in our community through Harrisonburg Soap Box Derby. I see it in Eastern Mennonite Elementary Schoolallowing students to learn through play, singing, praying, and service. I see hope all around us through people respecting others as equal humans sharing this one planet.
We need to respect others even if they are young, tattooed, wearing a hoodie, a different color, different social class, different in any way. If we respect each other, we will not do things that hurt, cause pain, or tear down others. This is the hope that I am praying for everyday.
I see hope in this video on a better way to help the next generation by letting them help themselves. Might work for marriages as well.
Deborah Smith received her Master of Business Administration degree from EMU
Congratulations on your achievement at Eastern Mennonite University. We are very proud you and appreciate your hard work invested to achieve this goal!
Deborah Smith Graduates from Eastern Mennonite University HARRISONBURG, Va. (June 3, 2016) – Deborah Smith from Harrisonburg was recognized as a member of the 2016 graduating class of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va. Smith received a Master of Business Admin.
Eastern Mennonite University is a Christian liberal arts university of about 1,500 students, located in Virginia’s scenic Shenandoah Valley. EMU is guided by the peace principles of Mennonite Church USA, educating students to serve and lead in a global context through cross-cultural study and an interdisciplinary curriculum. Established in 1917, the university offers over 40 undergraduate majors and six graduate programs offering nine master’s degrees. Eastern Mennonite Seminary is part of the university, as is the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, which helped launch 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Leymah Gbowee. See more at: emu.edu/about.
Lots of progress since the last post about this exciting project. The spaces are starting to look finished and we are excited to see the progress each time we visit. In order to tell the story of this historic building there was a lot of work done to preserve original parts. Unfortunately, years of water leaking into the space destroyed a lot of the original wood. The floors especially suffered rot. Here you can see the new floor and old floor coming back together.
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The floors are not the only interior woodwork. Jim Herr’s office is coming back to life as the original wood panels are finished and reinstalled. It looks incredible and it is not finished.
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The trim carpenters are also taking great care to recreate missing trim and the paint crew is staining it so that it is easy to tell what is old and what is new.
The kitchen upstairs is starting to take shape.
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The wall colors being added brought new life to the spaces. Jim Monger said the green we selected for our office was bright enough to wake us up in the mornings. What do you think?
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Work has not been limited to the inside of the building. First the old chain link fence was torn down and all the weeds removed which did wonders for the building site. Then the new fence was installed.
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The landscape installation certainly has brought a finished look to the exterior of the building.
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The big achievement over the last few weeks has been the window installation. These things are huge, energy-efficient, and beautiful!
Over the last few week there has been an amazing amount of progress at the Depot job site. The electricians have almost finished wiring the entire building. The drywall crew has done an amazing job putting the building back together and repairing the plaster. The insulators have made the building more efficient than it has been in 103 years. The painters are bringing color back into the spaces. The HVAC crew from Excel have installed an efficient comfort system in all the spaces. Maust Excavating has cleaned up the site and installed the sidewalks. Bryan Nesselrodt Construction has most of the framing complete. Our move in date is still not set, but we are getting closer to the finish line.
