In late September a section of the ceiling in the Unity Temple sanctuary fell, a result of record rainfall and a leaking roof drain system. A few days later, we had a structural engineer conduct an emergency assessment of the condition of the ceiling and roof. The engineer determined that, although there are no other sections in imminent danger of falling, there are additional sections that have begun to separate from the underlying concrete and need to be addressed as soon as possible. We asked the engineer to give us a proposal for a complete assessment and emergency repairs.
We received that proposal in late October and we have determined that we need to start the work outlined in that proposal now, for four reasons:
- First, we need to assess the condition of the entire ceiling before we repair any of it, so that we don’t have to later open up repaired areas.
- Second, concrete repairs need to be done before the temperature drops too low.
- Third, we’d like to finish this work now so that we can regain use of all of the upper seating areas before the holiday season.
- Fourth, we have received building code citations from the Village of Oak Park because of the ceiling, and we need to respond to those citations as soon as possible.
We have signed contracts with the engineer and a contractor and work began Wednesday, November 12.
The contracts cover a detailed assessment of the structural condition of the ceiling in the sanctuary (and roof where necessary), including identifying additional areas of plaster that might be at risk of further separation from the concrete. The contracts also will cover the removal of all sections of plaster and concrete that have separated and the repair of concrete (not the finish plaster) where that is necessary.
Starting today, scaffolding will be installed at the south end of the sanctuary, and then, as work is completed, moved to the other three sections of the room. We expect the work to be completed in about five weeks. By mid-December, we will have made the entire room safe and usable, and we will have identified any other potential problem areas that will need to be addressed in the longer term.
Regarding the cost, our best estimate at this time is that it will cost between $75,000 and $90,000 to do the structural assessment and ceiling repair work. Plus, we need to raise an additional $10,000 to pay for electrical repairs in the office area of Unity House, which is the subject of fire code citations from the Village of Oak Park going back to last year. The Board of Trustees and the Development Committee have established a target of $100,000 to address these emergency needs.
The Development Committee has begun preparing a fundraising campaign to pay for this work. The Development Committee will formally present the Emergency Fund Appeal to the Congregation in early December. This Appeal will be in lieu of the Winter Appeal that historically we have had at the end of the year, which in the past has funded the piano purchase, bathroom renovations and other capital improvements.
To jump start this fundraising campaign, the Board has collectively pledged $9,000 toward our target. And, we have received pledges from anonymous donors to match the next $40,000 in contributions to this Appeal. If we receive an additional $40,000 in pledges from the congregation, we will be getting very close to our target.
While we need to address this emergency now, the Board will continue to work on a longer term plan for addressing our facility issues. As part of that planning, we will continue to work with Unity Temple Restoration Foundation (UTRF) to coordinate our responsibility for building maintenance costs with UTRF’s mission of restoration. We will give the congregation updates as we have more specific assessments of the long term work that needs to be done and firmer estimates of the cost.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Board of Trustees at board@unitytemple.org. You can also contact David Wilke, our Business Manager, at dwilke@unitytemple.org or 708/848-6225 x100 with questions regarding day-to-day matters. David will also be posting regular updates on the progress of this project HERE at our new Building Weblog. n
1 Comment
November 14, 2008 at 5:05 pm
It seems to me that the congregation is just throwing good money after bad. My personal opinion is that the building would make a lovely museum, but in no way does it meet the needs of this growing congregation. The building is actually holding us back from becoming the congregation we could be if we had a proper building.