Back in Action!

In the time between the last post and this one, less happened than you might think. The delay is authentic, because it mirrors our experience of construction thus far. Such is the nature of construction projects, after all.

It was discovered that the Westmount-facing wall that the new addition is supposed to be attached to was not strong enough to support the weight. An elaborate plan was devised that includes inserting structural steel at various points to support and reinforce the building. This reinforcing is still underway and has significantly slowed down the process. One outcome of this is that the main stairwell to the library had to be shut down, and because of fire regulations, a new temporary exit from the library has been built - right over our front entrance!

It's not the prettiest, but it is functional! In the past weeks, our power has been out a couple times (once the city's problem, once a construction mishap), and since our only other access to the library is the elevator, this scaffold stairwell has already come in handy. And in case you're wondering, yes, you can still access the building via this entrance (at least for now).

At this point however, we are moving forward once again. We have a big hole in our front yard now:

Looking at this space, it seems both big and small. However, space outside is often deceptively large. We are going to fit a lot in to this area, once it's home to our new wing.

The next order of business is that the concrete contractor is scheduled to arrive next week, and then we will begin pouring the foundation.

Construction isn't all about work and delays though - sometimes it can be an excuse to have fun! We had an opportunity to do a photo shoot with the backhoe this week:

Life is never boring, especially when there is construction going on! So far the project has been very manageable, and we are all anxious to see the first signs of our new structure.