Just a quick update:
The building committee continues to meet every other week with our architects and others. We are working toward finalizing the construction drawings so that we can move toward the bid process in a couple of months.
The team responsible for furniture and finishes is one of the major players right now; though these items don’t represent a majority of the budget, the decisions that are made (especially in the office areas) will have an impact on where electrical outlets, ductwork, and other infrastructure items go. Therefore, these things need to be figured out now so that the building systems engineers can finish up their drawings. Also, things like, “Will that filing cabinet/desk/bookcase fit under the window/beside the column/in that corner?” are being worked out in detail as we consider what furniture from our current space can be reused in the new space.
The building committee as a whole has been working on the overall budget and has discussed and approved some things that we did not anticipate when we were beginning the project. Recently, for example, we saw the site plan that includes a fire lane access to the back side of the buildings, which we will include in order to meet the fire code now in effect. We have also decided where to put the additional bike racks that current ordinances require.
We are still planning for a March start to construction, and a groundbreaking service sometime in February. More details to come!