Room for Grace

Emmanuel’s identity and mission involve making room for all, room for God’s grace to permeate people’s lives. We continue renovating our building in ways that invite and welcome many different people.

Future exterior repairs will be addressed in the coming year. Preservation of our structure and addressing chronic leakage are part of that discussion.

Current interior reconstructions at Emmanuel began March 19th. Planning and discussions at EBC have brought us to this moment. Changes underway will require many adjustments for all of us.

New areas for Nursery, Restrooms and Choir Room are 99% completed. Fellowship Hall had some painting before the oak floors were refinished in June 2012.

Please come to Emmanuel and see many familiar faces, using some new environments.

PLEDGE ? If you have not already made a pledge, please consider supporting this effort. Strengthen your pledge if you are able.

Restricted Access

Fellowship Hall has had some major activity, which was required for refinishing the old oak flooring. If you have visited Emmanuel this week, you will have seen signs that prohibited entry from the sanctuary, the kitchen as well as by our new restrooms.

Prep

Spackle and paint touch-ups to ceiling were completed during the month of May by Bob Green.
Dust from sanding the old oak flooring was ubiquitous.

Fellowship Hall Floor Views

With the volatile fumes from polyurethane finish, the church picnic at the Peebles Island Park on June 10th will provide an excellent opportunity for a "quiet weekend" to permit floor drying to a hard finish.

More Progress in April

In the Nursery

Library View

Hallway

The workmen have preserved Emmanuel's chestnut trimwork to assure a continuity of style.

Nursery Changes

Painting and progress . . .

Restroom Progress

Views of the same corner, 4/5 and 4/27

Choir Room - Three

Looking South on 4/11 and 4/27

Early Progress in April

The FOCUS Food Pantry has secured new working space! Storage areas formerly located on the old stage are now all consolidated together under the balcony. Look for the reference phrase "Corner," with other photos documenting the space of the Food Pantry.

New Restrooms

Plumbing for handicapped-accessible
lavatories
has involved
extensive
and well-hidden labor . . . ↓

Nursery & Library

The nursery and library areas are progressing well.

Choir Room - One

Choir room will be in the old Stage area. Looking southward from the same point, these are two pictures of an amazing demolition over 24 hours.

Choir Room - Two

Looking northward into the future choir room (with the platform of the old back-stage area, partially removed) is seen from the corridor.

Progress from March

First Steps

Defining the walls for nursery, food pantry and coming library, all under the west balcony, seen from the south (State Street end):

Destruction

Demolition within the old nursery will create space for contemporary bathrooms.

Our Contractor & Permits

Beyond 2014

Emmanuel Baptist Church of Albany, as a congregation, has worked to make our facility a contemporary and enduring presence within the Capital District.
Future projects derive from identifying past structural concerns. Corporate Management is seeking grant support to help our congregation tackle the many significant repairs to our historic building, including how to address:
• tuck pointing in both the educational building and sanctuary
• stabilization of the windows
• stabilization of the tower and pigeon-proofing it
• repair and stabilization of the roof

Please forward questions about the progress of our church facility to Corporate Management or lahut@nova.edu

Roof Concerns & before 2006

Exterior concerns have been an on-going struggle for the Corporate Management Commission. This portion of the blog represents historic information, but is an on-going concern for CM.

Emmanuel’s 130+ year old Sanctuary roof, made of Vermont slate tiles, has had episodic maintenance. In the past months, our architect and roofing contractors have provided estimates because of water damage discovered inside the church, primarily in the area where Emmanuel’s tower meets the slate roof.

EAST-Balcony

Today, you can still see the evidence of internal leakage and water damage which has occurred inside Emmanuel. Obviously, more work will be required.



You can see easily this damage at the cornices east of the organ loft, when standing in front of the sanctuary (north), looking back at the organ loft (south).

EAST-Organ Loft

This gray decorative trim is made of plaster, and the east side of the organ loft has white plaster erupting and collapsing, with furry white pieces falling onto the balcony carpeting. This evidence has significantly progressed in the past year.

Water is leaking from the roof into the sanctuary. The problem is hidden by its location, in the dark behind the church organ.

Exteriors

Tower of Emmanuel Church has had varied maintenance for the stone masonry in the past 15 years. This is a north face view of the tower:

Roof

Emmanuel’s tower has shown damage mostly around the roof, as it erupts from the main sanctuary. At the western face of the tower, a deep valley is created where the descending east sanctuary roof creates a "V" (above, upper right). Old tarring for roof leakage can be seen below. This was a temporizing, not a permanent kind of slate repair. Both concerns contribute as sources for the current leakage, causing damage inside the church next to the organ loft.

PLANS

Plans have been developed by Emmanuel's architect and consultants for exterior masonry and structural repairs. Having formalized planing is a major step of progress.