Fire Suppression System Hookup Finally Happens!

It took nearly eight months, but it finally happened:  Our fire suppression system was hooked up to the City water main in Castillo Street.  It took that long to obtain the necessary permits from the City and from Caltrans.  Scheduling the actual work took only a week.  The work itself was spread out over 5 days, but now the last remaining major project is completed, so that a number of things can be done:  activate our fire alarm, install a security system throughout the remainder of the library, install rain gutters and hook them up to our drainage system, which was installed throughout the property but the drainage pipes out to the street had to wait until the fire system hookup work was done.

The first step was to cut the pavement and sidewalk with a big saw.

The second step was to break up the sidewalk and pavement, and then a ditch was dug from the edge of our property to the water pipe line.  The concrete was excessively thick, necessitating an extra half day for its demolition.

A City Water Department work got down in the trench to cut the water main and place a tee and valve in it.

It isn't especially impressive, but here are the results of his work.

At our end of the water pipe, a back flow preventing valve has to be installed, and here it is.

And here the crew is installing it.

Putting it all back together again is the final step.

While we had asphalt and a crew on hand, we had them finish the area around the trash enclosure..

Now We Have a Nice Storeroom!

The last room in the old wing of the Sahyun Library to be renovated was the old periodical room.  All the periodicals were taken out and stored in one of our storage units, the steel shelves were taken out and stored in the back yard, the walls were patched, painted, and the floor was carpeted.  A small meeting had to be held in the room, and a couple members said that room is too nice to be a storeroom.  A crack crew of volunteers reassembled the shelves and attached them to the walls.  So now we have a nice storeroom.  

Mac cleans the new shelves in the new storeroom which was once the periodical room.

And Jim Friestad wasted no time in stocking those shelves!

We're Almost Done, Except for . . . . . . .

Yes, the extension to, and the renovation of, the Sahyun Library is almost completed - except for connection of our fire suppression system to the City's water main.  We have no idea when that will happen.  Oh yes, we have ordered new partitions of the correct color for the Women's Room and are hopeful they will be delivered "soon."  
In the meantime, the interior and exterior of the old wing have been painted, and everything looks quite beautiful.  Do stop by the library to have a look, and keep your fingers crossed that all else will happen "soon."

The painters had to touch up shrinkage cracks that opened up between the tongue and groove of the ceiling planks.  They and our contractor avered that they had never seen the like with wood that was supposedly kiln dried.

Here is the old wing with its "eyebrows" and new coat of paint.

The entry patio really looks good with the new paint job, the new eyebrow, and the new bricks around the orange tree.

The old wing simply sparkles now with its new roof, new windows, new awning, and new paint job.