Words from Chris Major
Photos by Julie Harris Photography
If you’ve been past the King’s Centre this week, you will have noticed that things have been on the move with work on the new building project. I was around to see the last of the old building pulled down yesterday (Thursday 3/11) and it was exciting to just see how much progress has been made in such a short time.
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| David Leigh |
On Wednesday, I got the chance to sit down with site manager, David Leigh, and hear his assessment of what he and his team have already achieved and what still lies ahead.
Problems with disconnecting the gas and electricity supply unfortunately caused a delay in starting the demolition work for four weeks. However, since everything was declared safe and the demolition crew began to start in earnest, David told me that things could hardly have gone better. Any image I had of a quick swing of a wrecking ball doing the job in a day was taken away as I learned how the whole process of demolition lasted just over a week, with each part of the building being demolished in sequence and care being taken to reclaim and recycle all materials, fixtures and fittings where possible. Here’s a few photos taken over a number of day that show the journey - courtesy of Julie Harris.
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| The site just before main work begins |
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| Work starts |
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| The fundraising tent mural - each hand represented 10,000 raised! |
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| The walls coming down from all sides |
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| The floor being removed |
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| Getting ready to take down the skeleton structure |
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| Just before the big tumble |
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| The Kings Centre gone |
The next step is to move onto the foundations. Once the concrete floor is up, the groundwork contractor will then start with a dig to a depth of 1m below floor level. Bricks and rubble from the demolition will be crushed and the resulting material will be used to lay a 30cm “piling mat” over the entire area that the new building will cover. Amongst other things, this creates a solid base for the different contractor’s vehicles to access the site and get on with the exciting job of laying foundations..
A “piling contractor” will soon drive concrete piles into the ground, tracing a line showing where the walls will be built and forming the first part of the foundations. David says the plan is for this work to start in the week commencing 14th November and that this part of the foundations will be finished before Christmas, so that work on the steel frame can start early in the new year. Cant wait!
Although winter is on its way, David says his men are blessed with mild weather at the moment, and he is philosophical about the prospect of any worsening in conditions. Laying the foundations involves pouring concrete. This process is vulnerable to hard frosts, and the architects engaged on the project will insist that it should not be carried out at a temperature below 5°C. This is definitely a prayer point for us as a church to get behind – the weather will play a big role throughout the project and we need to believe that our God is greater!
David reports good relations with our neighbours in Raglan Rd and with Peugeot dealer next door, Robins and Day. Work takes place from 8.00am until 4.30pm to minimise any disturbance. Apart from one complaint from a nearby resident about vibrations when ground beams were being extracted, things have gone extremely well. Praise God! David plans to host a coffee morning at a local venue in due course to keep neighbours fully informed.
Its important that everyone who has helped us get this far feels connected to the ongoing journey of the project. As well as this blog, the site itself is willing to host small groups of visitors at scheduled times every now and then when it is safe to do so. If you're interested in visiting then please contact the church office who will help co-ordinate.
So that's it for now. Watch out for more updates on this blog as work progresses. In the meantime, it’s a good opportunity to remember the fact that this is a time of mixed emotions. The building has stood from 1963 and served thousands of people over the years. Many people in the church will have fond memories of weddings, baptisms and times of meeting with God. Looking at the images of these walls coming down provokes us to remember that a church is its people, and although these particular walls have been torn down, it is to make way for a new facility where many thousands more people can create many more amazing God-filled memories in the years to come.
So that's it for now. Watch out for more updates on this blog as work progresses. In the meantime, it’s a good opportunity to remember the fact that this is a time of mixed emotions. The building has stood from 1963 and served thousands of people over the years. Many people in the church will have fond memories of weddings, baptisms and times of meeting with God. Looking at the images of these walls coming down provokes us to remember that a church is its people, and although these particular walls have been torn down, it is to make way for a new facility where many thousands more people can create many more amazing God-filled memories in the years to come.
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