Main Hall Redevelopment day 10

Friday 8am

Almost there!

The carpet fitters finished off late yesterday evening and it looks great (see below). Today is all the tidying up, setting up the lights and the drapes, radio mics and instruments and testing everything. When I list it all out like that it sounds like a lot to get done in one day! Please pray for us that we get it all done!

I can't wait until Sunday when we get to use the new hall and for all of you to see it...I think you will be blown away!

Friday 12.00pm

Lots of people are in hoovering, putting up the drapes, testing the sound system etc. It is beginning to come together!

The Christmas tree is also going up in the lobby!

Friday 8pm

And this is what it has all been about! The first practices in the new hall!

Friday 10pm

We are still going - the bands have rehearsed and set up which went really well and sounded great. Now Paul, Derek, Tim (from SFL) and I are working out all the snags with lights and video screens...still some way to go.

Friday Midnight

We have just finished and leavng the church! It has been a late night, sorting out the final bits and pieces. The hall is looking amazing and the equipment is fantastic - allowing us real flexibility which was what we wanted from the outset. There are still one or two issues that will need to be finalised next week which is quite normal!

Sunday morning should be amazing - please be there and come and see the new hall in operation!

Main Hall redevelopment day 9

Thursday 11am

Work is going on furiously today...the carpet fitters are laying all the carpet, Paul Kerslake and I have been cleaning up (as you can see from the pictures below there is a lot of old kit to sort out!) and we have started putting the instruments back onto the stage.

We had the middle plasma screen working today to test out the right font sizes for song words and our media clips and it looks great. Even with all the lights on and the blind open the screen is sharp and clear...a big change from the projector we used to use.

Thursday 4pm

A very exciting moment happened earlier this afternoon, sound came out of our new speakers! It sounded great and felt like a really important moment. We have also had images up on the new screens. It is all very exciting!

The carpet fitters will be finished later today and then tomorrow it is about getting everything set up and working!

Main Hall Redevelopment Day 8

Wednesday 10am

The carpet guy has just arrived to start taking up some of the old carpet and relaying the new one. The sound guys are putting the rack wiring together and it is all getting very exciting because we are nearly there!

We are hoping tomorrow to be able to start putting some of the kit back on the stage and get it ready for the first users on Friday night.

Wednesday 2pm

The floor has been smoothed out in preparation for relaying the new carpet tomorrow.

Wednesday 5pm

Things are moving along really quickly and visibly again now. The new carpet has arrived and the comfort monitor is up - this is used to show those on the stage what is on the main screen so that preachers and singers and worship leaders can look up to see in front of them what is on the screen.

Tomorrow should see nearly everything finished and we can start moving things back onto the stage...very exciting. I can't wait for you all to see it on Sunday...should be amazing!

Main Hall Redevelopment day 7

Day 7 - Tuesday 2pm

Sorry not to have updated this sooner, I have been in a meeting all day today!

Anyway at 2pm things were progressing. The cabling and connectors have been run down to the back rooms and are all complete. These will run a video feed from the main hall to the back rooms.

The sound and video stuff is being put in the racks that form the connections and controls and the speakers are about to go up.

For those of you who like to look at sockets, here are a few...these are the plugs at the back of the hall that we connect the sound and video desks into.

Tuesday 4.30pm

Lots of progress this afternoon. The speakers are up and looking great...the curtain poles at the back of the stage are also up. The plasterer has been in to finish off making good where the radiator was located.

Tomorrow the new carpet should be laid!

Main Hall Redevelopment Day 6

Today (Monday) has been pretty quiet. The builders have finished so it is just the sound and lighting guys from SFL. Mainly they have been running cables through the loft to the back rooms for the video feed. Therefore there isn't much to show in photographs.

This afternoon the plasterer has been making good and the last flat screens have been going up.

Monday 5pm

Main Hall Redevelopment Day 5

Friday 10am

Yesterday (Thursday) the plumbers finished relaying some pipes and the pipes to the heater in its new position. That means that today the builders can finish off laying the stage boxing in the pipes. There is not too much to show as yet, so no photos so far today!

The sound and lighting guys are working on the wiring to the plasma screens, so again not too much to show that is different from yesterday.

The very futuristic power sequencer control panel has been installed. This device allows the user to punch in a 4 digit code and it will then power up all the sound equipment automatically and in the right order to prevent any of those crunching sounds a system makes when it is turned on in the wrong order. It also means that there will be just one switch to power up all the sound equipment rather than having to turn on lots and lots of different pieces of kit.

Friday 2pm

The stage is all finished, ready for carpeting next week.

The pipes have been boxed in and the racks with the sound and video equipment in are starting to be put together.

Main Hall Redevelopment Day 4

Thursday 10am

Work still goes on on the hall. Most of it is behind the scenes and so there is not a lot of visible change from yesterdays photos (hence no photos yet today). The hole has been cut in the wall for the relocation of the heater and the plumber is in looking at the various pipes that need moving and boxing in.

The sound and lighting guys are running the trunking for the cabling to the big plasma screens.

Thursday 2pm

The heater is now moved and the builders are making good on the hole that was left in the wall! The plumbers are have some excitements trying to move the pipes but are confident that they will be able to get there!

Thursday 5pm

The new lighting and curtain bar is installed above the flat screens and the pipes are nearly complete.

Main Hall Redevelopment Day 3

Yesterday (Tuesday) the people working on the hall made huge amounts of progress. Lots of the electrical work has been done, the new stage extension frame is complete, the old sound desk is out and the cabling for the new sound and video systems is all in.

Photos from the end of Day 2

Wednesday 10.00am

Wednesday 12.00pm

The new lighting bar installed ready for the stage lights and the stage extension almost finished.

Wednesday 2.00pm

Main Hall redevelopment day 2

Tuesday 9.30am

The day has started in a flurry of activity. The electricians arrived today so now there are lots of people on the site, electricians, builders and the sound and lighting guys.

The builders are working on the new stage, have dismantled much of the old one yesterday and they are also removing the sound desk at the back.

The electricians are running a new mains supply into the front of the all and the sound and lighting guys are putting in trunking for the new multicore CAT 5 cables that run from the back of the hall to the front.

Tuesday 12.00pm

Running the new sound and video cables and dismantling the old sound desk

Running the new mains electricity supply into the hall

Tuesday 2.30pm

Main Hall Redevelopment Day 1

To find out more about why we are doing this project click here.

To see progress for Day 2 (Tuesday) click here.

Sunday Night

Last night (Sunday) after the Songs of Praise service a great gang of guys came in to take down everything in the hall in preparation for the builders who arrived today.

The guys worked really hard and all the curtains, lights and sound stuff all came down. We also treated ourselves to pizza which kept us going!

Thanks to all the guys who worked so hard to get it all done.

Monday Morning 10am

This morning the builders and technical guys arrived and by 10am the stage had started to come up.

Monday Afternoon 2pm

Monday Afternoon 4pm

More to come tomorrow!