I’m sure that you’re all very curious as to what is happening with our seemingly elusive kitchen renovation. At our last update in September, we told you the kitchen would be completed by now.

That’s obviously not happened. Yes, the demolition of the old kitchen and asbestos containment did happen on schedule back in late September as we indicated at that time.

We have identified 3 possible phases to the proposed renovation. Phase 2 and 3 will not be undertaken until there is some stability in pricing of the construction materials required.

• Phase 1 consisting of the kitchen and the lift is affordable and not impacted as much by pricing uncertainty due to in-kind donations and the 2022 construction time period. The cost of phase 1 will be approximately $350,000.

The scope of the project has changed dramatically since the initial pricing was done last November based on what we knew at the time.

As you all know, the last year has altered our world in many ways due to the pandemic. The construction world is no different. Costs of materials and labour have increased about 20 percent overall with some materials increasing 150 percent (lumber and steel). We are also seeing some very long delivery times for many materials.

This summer, congregants Sheila Wappel-McLean and John Bueller were named project managers.

Watch the renovation presentation from the congregational meeting in June, 2021

Watch the renovation presentation from the congregational meeting in February, 2021

Our kitchen, bathrooms, and gymnasium are the most active areas for both congregants and community guests, and experience the most wear-and-tear.

Our outdated kitchen needs upgrades to improve ventilation and food safety requirements that will qualify it as a commercial kitchen.