The city inspector did approve the work on Monday the 27th. From there work proceeded with finishing off installing the support beams and moving to painting the upper ceiling black. Once the new wood ceiling is hung there is a slight gap between the planks, but with the upper ceiling being black it will be visually pleasing.
The next major move is the electrical above the altar along with the A/C techs.
The lighting above the pews is still be studied trying to find an LED bulb which will be affordable. The first bulb we tried came in at close to $150 per bulb, not including installation. Any new bulb is going to require a retrofit to the new style recepticle, and although not difficult, does add to the cost of switching over.
Besides cost of the first type bulb we tried there were a couple of other draw backs one of which was being too bright and the other being noisy as it had a cooling fan built-in. In the quiet of the church the fan sounded like the hiss from an audio speaker going bad. Multiply that by the close to 100 bulbs we will need, and it may have overcome anyone's wish to worship in quiet.
We are trying a second bulb whose cost is greatly reduced, has no fan, but whose lighting distance is rated at twelve feet. Although not as bright we're hopefull it will serve our purposes.
We are still looking at 2-3 weeks before the renovation is complete. Some estimates are out to 4-5 weeks. Only time will tell.
One problem arising from the extended renovation period is the weekday masses in the Parish Hall. The charter school will be resuming with teacher work sessions on the 10th of August and they will require the Parish Hall. We are currently searching for the best location alternative for the weekday masses. Weekday masses range in attendance from 50 to 75 parishioners.