Construction and Continuity Update (as of December 14, 2015)

Dear staff,

Hello from Patti and Beth, welcoming you to the newly ramped up Construction & Continuity blog. We're heading into a winter of fast-paced physical change as the building construction reaches Peak Gorgeous and we all prepare to move ourselves into this fabulous new space.

A large group of VPR colleagues meets weekly to anticipate and plan for all these changes, and we are committed to giving you information in order to make the new space feel like yours, and to make our transition into it as seamless as possible.

We need your input! Your questions, concerns, secret worries, and reverent hopes will help us do a better job of anticipating what you need and keeping you in the loop. We'll gather the staff comments and questions for the weekly Continuity Meeting, and deliver you the best answers we can in the weekly update that follows. Please use the comment section at the bottom of this page - or any other page on this blog - to post your questions and comments. (I think you can do this anonymously, if you choose.)

Below are a few useful things to know for the coming week, and a few cool things to notice about progress on the building.

Cheers,
Patti and Beth


Progress report:

We are six months and a few days into construction and Brian reports that we are "on time, on scope and on budget." The new building is now weather tight, and the lack of true December temperatures means we've saved $5,000 in anticipated heating costs in the new building; the big construction heater hasn't been turned on once!


What am I looking at?

This week's WAILA (I totally just made that up, but I kind of love it) is devoted to Studio One:

This framing will support the massive media wall at the entrance of Studio One. Multiple large screens will display images, information and graphics that are visible as guests approach the building from the parking lot.  (Photo taken with Studio One entrance at the photographer's back, reception is straight ahead, parking lot is on the right.)

New entrance of the building: the glowing light of the reception area is straight ahead, the lighted area on the left will be the future media wall and floor-to-ceiling windows. (Also, check out the first solar panels on the roof!)

The south-facing back wall of Studio One. The exterior brick and masonry work is nearly complete, and the patio stone work around it has begun. (The stormwater pond is to the left of the photographer.)

Other work you can notice around the construction site:

• Windows!! The north section of the building (the future home of Technology, Operations and Engineering) is seeing the light.
• Walls!! Some sheetrock has gone up inside the building.
• Panels!! The standing seam roof has been prepped to receive solar panels and more will be installed in the coming week.

News you can use (AKA, where to park):

For the foreseeable future staff should park on the paved northern parking lot (closest to RedHed) first; when those spots are full, park on the paved old parking lot immediately in front of the building. Use the gravel lot as a last option (it's mostly for construction worker parking) and do NOT use the south paved lot (closest to the "Rain Garden"), which is for construction vehicles.


Ask me anything!

Please use the comments section below - we really want to know about any curiosities or concerns you have about the upcoming move. Here are few of the topics that the Continuity group is working on:

• "neighborhoods" of seating to arrange our departments in the new space; 
• how to stagger move-in dates for all of our teams in March;
• getting staff ready to clean out our desks and spaces to make the move manageable. 

Anything strike a chord with you? Please add your comments and questions below.