April 26, 2004

What is going on at the Gray Building?
By Anne Gould


The blasting is complete. If you were in town last week you may have heard the noise. Workers at the Gray Building were blasting through ledge in order to connect drainpipes to the town sewer system for storm water runoff. EF Wall and subcontractors were hard at work this week both inside and outside the Gray Building. If you drive by you will see lots of impressive equipment - trucks, drilling rigs, soil sifters, and backhoes. Crews were hard at work putting in a new water main, laying down new pipe and preparing the parking area.

Inside the building it's just as noisy and dusty. The second floor beams have been reinforced so that the building complies with modern code requirements. The elevator shaft has been framed out, sheet rocked and taped. The east stairway was discovered hidden in a closet and is now the main stairway to the second floor. The "new" enclosed stairway, built in the 1980's, has been removed, and the front hallway is now wide open. The west stairway will be rebuilt to match the original double staircase.

Are you curious to see the old back staircase? You don't have to wait until our tenants move in this September. Come to the Open House and "Hard Hat" tour on May 15th, from 11am - 2pm. Senator Leahy will be joining us at noon to celebrate the start of the renovation. There will be speeches, tours, food, old photos and friends.

If you missed our update in last week's Northfield News, or have questions about the Gray Building Coalition, or want to view photos of the on-going construction, visit our website at www.graybuilding.org. We hope to see you May 15th.

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PO Box 171, Northfield, VT 05663
e-mail: agould@tds.net
phone: 485-9871