As 2024 kicked off, so has the above ground works at Garden Suburb. Concrete slabs have been poured for the new Lounge and the new Shed. Steel has arrived on sight and construction has begun putting together the various pieces to make the building envelope.
As we go through the project, there’s a few big areas that are all happening at once.
Lounge and Shed
These are progressing slightly ahead of schedule. The roofing sheets will get ordered and installed next. The walls are a mix of concrete tilt-up-slabs (at the western end) and sheet metal (on the other walls). Once that’s done, they’ll start fitting out the interior power, data and wall linings.
The Lounge will have lots of big windows, a kitchen, a cafe area, and a deck to the North and East sides (with awning over). The entrance will have a laminate flooring, and the main area will have carpet flooring.
Auditorium
The current auditorium already has a new stage and good carpets. We’re getting the ceiling lined nice and high and it will get painted a dark colour. We’re keen to see this work get started in the coming weeks. We’re also going to make some improvements to the existing ‘lobby’ so it can be used as a creche on Sundays and a large meeting room throughout the week.
AusGrid Power Upgrade
One of the big issues we’ve faced is the requirement that AusGrid upgrade the transformer on the pole on Myall Rd so that our site has sufficient power with all the new spaces it will be operating. This has been a bit of a headache, but there’s a plan in place. We’re hopeful AusGrid will get this finished in June.
Program and Budget
While we’ve been plugging away at full speed, there have been elements of the build process that have been out of our hands and taken much longer than we think they should have. Engineers and consultants have been delayed, unexpected changes have trigged further steps, etc. At the moment, our move in date is still planned for late June, but we need to be open to more delays.
At present we’re at the very top of our budget for the total construction cost, $3.5m. Please pray that costs would come down and that there'd be no other unforseen expenses.
Garden Cottage and Garden Office
We’ve loved being able to bless a couple of families over the past few months with the temporary housing at the Garden Cottage. We’re about to move the living/home facilities from the West side of the house to the East side of the house, but we’re still planning to use that space for people in financial and special needs. If you’d like to make a donation to the Six-Ten fund to support the Garden Cottage and those who use it, please check out the details here.