We are now closing in on the final two months of construction. The exterior is now almost completely finished (see pic above.) The next pic below offers include an interior view of the sanctuary. You can see the framework for the bimah platform being constructed and the sound baffle on the left, which will hang directly over the Torah reading table. The second pic down shows reclaimed cypress slats that are currently being installed on the chapel walls and ceiling. (Cypress is a main feature of our building that will also figure prominently in our sanctuary.) Below this is an interior view of our main staircase looking down from the third floor. The next pic shows our parking lot across the street. It has now been completely paved and striped (though it might be hard to tell with all that snow.)

The second pic from the bottom shows one of the cabinets and counter tops in the Religious School workroom. All our cabinet faces and shelving are made from Dakota Burl, which is a wood-like material made from recycled sunflower husks. At bottom there is a photo of the tile in one of the bathrooms. All of the sinks and toilets have been delivered to the site and the plumber will start installing them next week.

We continue to move along with construction, most of which is essentially finish work, such as millwork, installation of doors, counter tops and other final pieces. The bimah will be completed and the walls of the sanctuary will be worked on so that the cypress siding can be installed.

Finally: our local NBC affiliate, NBC5 recently featured JRC’s new building on the evening news. Click here to watch!

There has been some exciting progress on the building, so here’s one more post on the construction before we head off to Israel tomorrow…

The reclaimed cypress siding has started to go up on the exterior walls (see the second and third pix down). The siding will eventually get two coats of clear sealer which will protect and enhance the look of the wood. The Jerusalem stone is now going upon the main wall – the bottom pic shows some of the work that was done yesterday and today. (In case you are wondering, the small shadows on the the stones are made by the spacers that have been placed between the tiles to prepare them for grouting.)

As the pictures above and below indicate, the exterior of the building and the third floor sanctuary window are coming together beautifully. Looking forward to seeing even more progress when I get back to town August 15!

There has been a fair amount of progress on our building over the last two weeks. All of the windows have been now been installed: the pic above shows the window framing for the east wall of the third floor sanctuary and the shot below shows the east window of the first floor chapel. The second pic down offers a good view of the windows in the second floor classrooms.

They have also begun polishing the concrete floors (you can see the workers doing just that in the sanctuary shot above.) We are told that this process will continue well into next week.

As I reported in my last diary entry, we have received the shipment of reclaimed cypress siding for the exterior walls. The contractors are still debating the best way to treat the wood before installing it, which will hopefully begin next week. The second pic from the bottom shows a test model of the cypress planks as they will look on the walls.

We have also just received the shipment of the Jerusalem stone (bottom pic) that will clad the entry arch and main interior wall. This installation should begin as soon as the concrete floor polishing is completed.