Progress being made at First Presbyterian Church

Pastor Bob Madsen provided his parishioners an update on the progress to clean-up First Presbyterian Church following the boiler room fire earlier this month:


I am sitting in one of my three temporary offices – McDonald’s. Free wireless internet access makes paying for a cup of coffee worthwhile.

I believe that I told you in my last message that most of the building had been cleaned of the soot from the fire. Everything above the ceilings has been sprayed with shellac to seal in any particulates that may have evaded the cleaning crews. If all goes well, the replacement of ceiling tiles will begin later this week.

The Session authorized taking advantage of the open ceilings to add insulation to portions of the building where none had been installed prior to this point. Ted Smith, Ken Hauser, and Walter Erxleben are working on that now. If you have a pair of free hands – either your own or a pair on the ends of the arms of someone else in your house who needs (in your estimation) to get out and do something - give Ted a call.

All of the duct work connecting air handlers to diverters in rooms has to be replaced. The old has been removed and the new delivered. Air handlers have been scrubbed out and sealed with shellac. The new duct work has been delivered to the church and has been staged throughout the building.

The boilers are in place and the piping in the in the boiler room is being completed but the presence of electric space heaters throughout the building makes me think the boilers are not yet in operation.

If you have some time and want to help sorting through Sunday School materials you could give Julie Coverdale a call. Or if you would care to help with the same task for Daycare, you could call Jolin Whicker.

Well, they are mopping the floor all around me. I take that as a hint that I have used the space and internet for the length of time permitted based on the cost of my purchase.

Bob Madsen