(DEH) Work this month: We talked with some Contractors about enlarging the driveway curve towards the back of the building. There is one spot that is a tight curve that causes trucks and buses to have problems turning. It is also very close to the main building pad mounted transformer. John Osborne and I continued to assess the electrical service and repair exterior wall mounted fixtures. We created a new HQ Command Center in one of the back meeting rooms, complete with white boards, etc. This room is used for HQ meetings, client rental meetings, and an office during construction. We continued to review the domestic cold and hot water piping and various water heaters in the building. We located and marked demolition walls and floors. Completed various maintenace work throughout the building.

(MH) Another day, another demo. Eight adults and two kids showed up on January 19th to help with the front office deconstruction. This area will become part of the front entry reception hall. The goal for the day was to disconnect the power, and remove the cabinets, doors and ceiling from the area to be demolished. Everyone jumped right in and started removing all of the building materials we needed to get out of the way in order to bring down the walls safely the following weekend. We had a large pile of salvaged doors, cabinets, ceiling tiles and electrical outlets. We even had enough time to remove some of the paneling. All of the metal was staged for later recycling.

The weekend of January 26th proved wet and icy but did not keep anyone away. We stared the day by removing all of the cabineets, shelves and doors from the former front office area. We then began pulling paneling and knocking down walls for this to become the future reception area. The wiring in this area was a nightmare, but we were able to keep a few light running to be able to work without headlamps. Volunteers also began knocking down the file storage area and moving all the cinder blocks outside. While the first crew kept tearing this area out, the second crew began removing the hallway adjacent to the future office ara. This was a double sheet rock ceiling with metal studs. Dave Luckins jumped right in with the pry bar and the lower ceiling came out in no time. By late afternoon we had nearly filled up the 40 yard dumpster and had a huge pile of metal studs ready for recycling.

The NSS provided pizza and drinks for all of the hard work the bolunteers had put in. We fired up some of the scrap wood trim in the burn barrel and had a toasty place to hang out in the winter air while we patted ourselves on the back for the huge amount of work we got done. On Sunday we ripped up the capret form the front office area and finished the last part of the deconstruction until the plumbing was disconnected. We spent the rest of the morning sorting and staging all of the recycling such as teel studs, ceiling grid and electrical wire. Additonal portions of the ductwork were also removed and staged for recycling. To this point, the bulk of the material put in the dumpsters consisted of insulation, drywall, and carpets. All of the metal has been salveaged ro recycling. All of the lights, vents, shelving, wood 2x4's, insulation, and other building materials with value have been stored and re-purposed, minimizing the volume of materials going into the landfill. Volunteers this month include Dave McCrae, Moore J. Smith, Jason Hardy, Kelly Smallwood, Dakota Smallwood, Ashley Hall, Kim Smith, Maureen Handler, Tommy Royston, Woody Woods, David Luckins, Aubrey Golden, Mike Cato, Hazard Bryant, Kelli Davis, Kennedy Thomas, Tricia Spiliotis, and John Attaway.