Summary status report on our facilities needs

STARTING A NEW fiscal year, with some new officers and directors, let us take stock of where we stand. From this vantage point, our recent accomplishments and imminent projects are taken as givens. What matters most are the challenges that we have yet to address.

The focus in this post is not on making improvements per se, but more simply on attending to what we currently have, beyond routine maintenance. I further restrict my focus here to items that are not obvious. (Which excludes repairing the flood damage in the basement.) This gives us our baseline for moving forward beyond this summer’s projects.

Below the jump, this post sums up the needs of our facilities major areas of concern. The list is not exhaustive. What is listed here alone will cost more than $180K. Most of the expenditures have been discussed by, and authorized by, the board of directors.

Status report on minor water intrusion

ASSUMING THAT this summer’s planned projects will be successfully completed, there are three minor remaining water-intrusion issues. At least, to my knowledge they are minor or probably under control. (Still, this topic matters attention because water is a threat to the building’s structural integrity — and can ruin interior finishes. If not addressed timely, repair costs balloon quickly.) 

Below the jump, this post lists and briefly describes the three remaining issues.

Our synagogue and the Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA)

IS OUR SYNAGOGUE EXEMPT from the A.D.A., as a religious entity? Yes and no. While our own programs are exempt, the activity of any non-religious body that rents space from us appears to be subject to the A.D.A.

Hence our ability to lease our (downstairs) facilities depends upon our accommodation to A.D.A. requirements.

Below the jump, this post excerpts the more formal language on the official website ada.gov.

Degradation of plaster wall at our southwest edge

TWO WEEKS AGO, I hosted the representatives of two waterproofing companies. It prompted me to take a more careful look at the plaster-covered concrete wall at the southwest corner of our property. Its degradation is now obvious, as the result of water damage. It took a big hit this past winter.

(As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.)

Below the jump, this post discusses the condition of what I am calling the “southwest edge” of our sanctuary property.…