The construction project has been moving along steadily. There have been many dramatic improvements and every time I step inside it feels more and more like “home” (not like my home – which I do love, but is in no way state-of-the-art custom construction like YCCAon2!) – home for YCCA, that is. Everyday, there are contractors coming through who are part of this crew or that crew, working on a specific piece of the project. I was particularly excited by a comment I hadn’t as yet had the pleasure of hearing. I think it was this past Friday when I stopped in to meet with Kait and someone I hadn’t met before was scoping out his work and turned to me and said “This is such a great building! It’s gorgeous!” Such a nice change from the comments made eight to ten weeks ago from contractors scratching their heads and wondering what they were doing there.
Since my last post, we had several inches of concrete poured throughout the building to level each floor. Having a perfectly flat surface in each room and each hallway completely changes the integrity of the building. The building feels rock solid beneath your feet. We’ve made decisions for flooring surfaces that make sense for each classroom’s purpose, i.e. Art Room vs Music Room vs Infant -Toddler Classroom, hallways or bathrooms. Flooring surfaces will change the personality of each room. I love that we’re not designing and building cookie-cutter spaces. The educational program at YCCAon2 will be structured exactly like YCCA (Old Swedes’) with children and teachers rotating classes throughout the day. Consequently, each classroom is outfitted to support a specific modality (subject) like: Music Therapy, Art Education , Movement / Recreational Therapy, Dramatic Play, PreK Skills, Centers, etc. Having a collection of uniquely designed spaces with energy that flows from room to room will definitely enhance our theme based program. (My next blog post will focus on programming, curriculum, and staff for both locations, in addition to explaining how both centers will be intertwined.)
The remainder of this week’s construction, aside from insulation, will include completion of electrical wiring, and preparation for painting our gorgeous hardwood vaulted ceiling and trusses. (I must remember to tell you the history of those trusses in a future blog post!) The painters will begin their work on Friday and continue throughout the weekend. They will return next Friday for our second coat. The ceiling should be spectacular after next weekend. I can’t wait to show you!
YCCA and YCCAon2 