and the walls were shaking...

We arrived at work this morning to the sound of jack hammers once again - and piles of books on the floor.

The hammer was breaking up the concrete just through the wall where the ramps that will link the existing library with Te Takere will be.  There is a small difference in the floor levels of the two buildings so the ramps will be essential to make access easy for everyone.  The library walls have bowed slightly which has popped some of our shelves off.  Such is the price of progress!

On our walk through the building today it was interesting to see the insulation on the ceiling and the attractive ceiling material that was being installed.  The ceiling panels are white corrugated material with small even holes.  I suspect that with the insulation and the perforated panels there should be no unpleasant echo inside the building.

Gib board is now being put up on the framing so it is easy to see how the meeting rooms and storage spaces are going to look.  The rooms seem to have quite generous proportions so we expect that they will be well used by many community groups or school classes.  Won't that be wonderful!

Working hard - high and low!

There is a huge range of trades people beavering away on the Te Takere site today.  Electricians, plumbers, ceiling installers, roofers, carpenters, concrete workers - you name it they are all there.

The REALLY deep footings for the new verandah posts have been dug and the steelwork is being fitted into place.  

We are looking forward to the lovely new glass veranda  Unlike the old verandah it should keep off the rain - and will have the added benefit of not blocking the light.

So top to bottom - there is much happening.
The windows have all completely gone from the west side of the building and there is a temporary wall in place to protect the inside.

Holes are being drilled through walls (It sounds a bit like a giant dentist in action) so that data cables can be run through from our server room.  This is a really delicate operation as the computer equipment is really sensitive.  The team on Te Takere have assured us that all care will be taken not to disrupt our computers.  This has happened once before (Not with this team) so we are a little bit nervous about it. 

However - the men on the job at present are really considerate - they even stopped the drilling for half an hour this morning so that we could still run our Toddler time session in comparative peace. Thanks guys!
And thanks for moving the bicycle rack to a convenient place for our customers - they really appreciate it and so do we.

What a hive of activity!

It was fantastic today to see the huge team of busy men working in Te Takere.  With so many, being so busy we will be in there in no time.

For us it is really exciting as now that the larger
spaces are obvious it is easy to imagine the events and promotions that we will be able to put on when we are in Te Takere.

The two scissor jacks  make it possible to reach the high ceiling.  What a light and airy feeling the height will give us.
Most of the partitioning for office and meeting room spaces is up and there is new stripping being put up to support the new ceiling.  

Oh ... Thank Goodness

I went onto the building site today for the first time since construction began and my overwhelming impression is that we have got the dimensions of various spaces right.

I was particularly pleased to see the walls of the Archival Storage and Research Rooms taking shape. (Thats them behind me in the photo). These will house the collections of the family History Group and Horowhenua Historical Society and it has been really hard to visualise the dimensions from a plan. I have been a wee bit anxious but am now very comfortable that these rooms will be fine. I already knew about the high stud but discovering just how high it was under the mezzanine was a revelation.

The meeting rooms are also starting to take shape and even the tiny wee ones (well they look teeny on the plan) will be very comfortable for 4-6 people to hold a small committee meeting or work on a project.

Another decision I am feeling delighted we made now is around the flooring of the mezzanine above where the old deli and meat departments used to be (above me in the photo). We decided to try and retain the existing floorboards even though they looked a bit worse for wear in places and wow! Someone pretty talented has been labouring away up there replacing chipboard patches and rotten boards with good boards salvaged elsewhere. It is looking terrific! Once its sanded and polished up I think it will be a real feature. Sitting up under the ceiling is quite a snug place to be - like a crows nest. You have a lovely view over the whole main space yet feel detached and 'cosy'. This area will be the much yearned for 'Ssshhhhhh' space that so many people have been asking for - the traditional quiet library space for reading and reflection.

I'm so excited :)

New roof going up and old Verandah coming down!

The front of the old building looks very different without the verandah.  Now that the upper wall panels have gone you can visualise how the front will look when it is all window and the new glass verandah is in place.  So many bits are coming off and being replaced it's a bit like the proverbial axe with 3 new heads and 4 new handles!

It was all go with the arrival of the huge crane that was used to lift the new roofing materials up onto the top of the building.  It caused quite a stir in our workroom with the noise in the alley outside our windows.  It looked really tall once it was set up and ready to go and made short work of the heavy lifting.  It's good to know there will be a new roof.   The old roof panels were asbestos and had to be replaced.

I didn't get to explore the inside this week but the staff that did were most impressed with deep hole that the workings of our new lift will fit into.  Won't it be fantastic to have a real people lift to get people to the upper floors.  Especially since one of the lovely quiet places to hang out in town will be in the upstairs area of the new Te Takere centre.