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Rebuilding Our Future Update:
As I walked through the main sanctuary on Friday, I began to appreciate just how far we have come since a year ago October. If you have not had a walk through yet, you should do so. The sanctuary, even though unfinished, looks amazing.
We had come face to face with some of the worst of Florida weather. Initial damage was significant but unknown. Despite our best efforts, protecting the sanctuary from further damage while we waited for clearance to rebuild proved difficult at best. Initial projections of costs to restore the sanctuary as it was before the hurricane were based on the FEMA inspection of visual damage in February. With reconstruction underway in this past summer, we needed a dry out to assess any hidden damage caused by the storm and any subsequent water intrusion over about 8 months. We promised that we would remediate any mold found to allay justified concerns about health impacts. We did not anticipate what we found when we peeled back the onion.
New flooring for the Sunday school wing
AC Duct replacement
Hurricane clips for the entire roof to bring to code
Insulation replacement through the building (nursery and daycare) and replacement tiles and related sheetrock sheetrock
Repainting the entire church interior
Exterior plywood wall replacement due to wood rot and mold
Stucco repair and repainting
Replacing the large accordion wall divider
Replacing the old cedar siding with Hardie Board, a concrete composite material impervious to water and wind protective exterior
Upgraded electrical systems and fire protection to code
Extensive use of lifts to conduct booth interior and exterior work
Upgraded windows to code
All of these have been added costs. To this date, we have incurred about $200K in work order change costs. We are continuing to work with FEMA for an approval to amend our initial project to include these subsequent expenses from now identified damages.
But donations and financial support have kept pace for cash flow, but continuing work has remained a challenge .
As you know from Pastor’s letter, money from FEMA and the State of Florida is not expected before summer
A lot has happened, but not all to our benefit, unfortunately. This quarter, we got the permit to begin the restoration of the sanctuary. While we were waiting, Mother Nature decided to bring on the rainy season. While the two rounds of previously installed tarps had not been perfect, they were able to keep a substantial portion of rainwater out of the building during the dry season. Not so after May. Consequently, mold problems intensified with the warmer and much wetter summer weather. Our contractor conducted a thorough assessment of developing mold damage to walls and infrastructure to get a better sense of costs moving forward with remediation. Drywall and insulation were removed so that damage to the frame structure could be fully evaluated. This has slowed the timing of renovation, but necessarily so. Rebuilding the roof should begin shortly once a new contract is in place. We are currently working with FEMA and FDEM to assess whether remediation can be covered as an indirect result of the hurricane caused by slow response times at governmental agencies. We are hopeful that these costs can be merged with the initial damages caused by Hurricane Milton. This Committee continues to do an admirable job in all aspects to keep this project moving forward.
In covering costs for the repairs and replacements for contents damaged or lost, we are hoping to raise at least $50,000 through this GoFundMe account. Any and all donations are appreciated.
Please check us out on our website: www.discoveralc.com