VPR's Internal Facility Expansion & Renovation Project Blog: Continuity Update for July 18

New conference room, formerly Brian & Brendan's offices.

The photos this week are all about WINDOWS! See more pictures at the end of this post, after you've absorbed every typo-filled scrap of information below.

This week's news you can use:

PARKING
A few weeks ago we mentioned that the parking lots need a second coat of blacktop, proper curbing and freshly painted lines. That time is upon us!

One of the two parking lots should be available throughout the work, but hard to say which lot will be open until you're pulling in the driveway, so be aware of any directional signs or roped off areas.

This week, parking will be tight! The Islamic Society continues to help us out with overflow parking, but we also encourage carpooling and taking the bus. This work could take a few days.

KITCHEN STORAGE
Looky here! We have more kitchen cabinets eagerly waiting in the Green Room to be installed. A few more things will be shuffled around in the kitchen when these get installed, including moving one (or both?) of the microwaves up higher. More details to come on this.

VPR CLASSICAL "AIR CHECK"
The air quality in Studio One Control (currently VPR Classical Control) is significantly better, but we're still assessing. A couple different solutions were deployed in there, and now we to determine which is the most effective, and is the solution durable, or temporary relief. The good news is that staff have variously described the room as smelling like a pool or a thunderstorm. That sounds so atmospheric.

STAFF QUESTIONS AND REQUESTS FOR INFO
We have a long list of questions from all of you that were generated at the staff meeting, before then and since. Some are easy to answer (see below) and others will take time to determine what the answer is.

Here we go for this week's dose of Q & A!

How far will wifi stretch outside? It should reach the limits of property, once all of the construction is completely finished. (This last phrase - "once all of the construction is completely finished" applies to almost every answer below.)

Can we get another broadcast clock in the newsroom? Yes - it's in the work plan

Can we get another broadcast clock in Studio One? Yes - it's in the work plan

Can we get a broadcast clock in the cafe? Maybe. It's not in the work plan and these clocks are expensive. This is TBD.

Can I get an extra filing cabinet for under my desk? Maybe, we'll know better once the whole space is occupied and we've sorted out the last of the furniture. This might come down to a budget consideration.

Can we get a toaster oven? Yes. Thank you, Ty, for buying one last week.

Are we getting an open work table in the Newsroom? Not right away but it’s possible. (We think this asker is referring to the area that will be vacated by the Admin team.)

Can we get decaf coffee? Sure! If you want decaf, please identify yourself to Laurie. There is a third enormous coffee urn that we can put in the rotation, and she'll teach you where to find and how to brew it.

How do I use the copiers and printers? If this is you, please ask Todd, Joe or Laurie to help you with your specific printing or copying task.

Can staffers from Norwich, Montpelier, etc., book a desk space to work in Colchester for the day? For now, there is no booking system for this. There are empty “floater desks” in TOEFL and News, plus LMA rooms. We can revisit whether a booking system is necessary if the free-range plan is causing problems.

Will non-Colchester staff get building keyfobs? Yes. If you'd like one, please request it from facilities@vpr.net.

Things that we'll make specific instruction sheets for:

where to find specific supplies (fill in the blank - Post-It Notes, band-aids, staples...)
how to run the dishwasher
how to brew coffee
what can be recycled, what can be composted

PHOTOS!!