See video clips of progress at the site.

July 21: The view from the large meeting-room of the Educational/Multipurpose building.

July 21: The Educational/Multipurpose building viewed from the meadow.

July 6: The cement floor in the Educational/Multipurpose building has been poured!

June 26: Finished kitchen cabinets in the Volunteer Building.

June 26: SCBGS Treasurer Heather Gordon and her son, Brendan, begin assembly of cabinets for volunteer kitchen.

June 26:

Volunteer Building

This building is not finished, but certainly usable (in fact, we have a couple of meetings planned there in the next few weeks). The washrooms are in and working. There will be grab bars installed, the floors will be painted in a washable epoxy paint, and tp and paper towel dispensers will be put in. The wiring for the hot water tank is still to be done.

Kitchen cabinets were ordered last week and have been assembled and installed in the volunteer room. Lights and baseboard heating have been installed and are operational.

Educational/Multipurpose Building:

Initial plumbing work is completed to the mechanical room, washrooms, and kitchen. The concrete slab floor will be poured next Friday in conjunction with the installation of the in-floor radiant heating system. Once the floor is poured and has cured, construction will begin on the interior walls. The exterior posts have been put in around the roof overhang, and look terrific. Openings in the roof have been cut for the four skylights in the lobby area, allowing lots of natural light in.

Site:

Work party crews have managed to get most of the brush moved so it could be chipped. This chipping is almost complete, with just a couple of piles to go.

The pathways have been mowed, so they are once again inviting for our Sunday tours.

The trench for municipal water was dug last week; pipes were laid and the trench has now been filled in. The interior trenches for water and septic are now complete and also filled back in. The septic system is in and working. We have installed a system called Ecoflo Biofilter, which has lower maintenance requirements and is much friendlier to the environment than traditional systems. If you’re interested in how it works, check their website for an animated demonstration. The temporary tech cable that was supplying power from the Volunteer Building to the Educational/Multipurpose Building has been removed, and hydro to the Educational/Multipurpose Building now comes from Mason Road to the pole in the parking lot and then underground to the building. The tech cable will be re-used for power to the back of the property.

June 16:

Volunteer Building

The drywall is up and primed, there’s a little bit of trim to go tomorrow, and the electricians and plumbers should finish up this week or early next.

Potting Building

We’re using this for temporary storage of a few furniture items that have donated for the volunteer office. Mike Carson’s Prudential Sechelt office has graciously donated a desk, some chairs, and a filing cabinet to the cause. Once the remaining work is complete on Building A, these items will be moved into place. Jane MacDonald has donated a refrigerator for the volunteer lounge. Many thanks to Mike, Prudential and Jane!

Educational/Multipurpose Building:

The building has had the plywood sub-roofing installed, and is awaiting the roofing company to install the finished surface. Doors, skylights and windows have all been ordered, and will be installed when they arrive. Then the fun begins… plumbing, concrete slab floor, in floor heating, interior walls and electrical.

Site:

Work continues on the septic field and accompanying system. The Volunteer Building should be hooked up with working plumbing by early next week, definitely in time for the opening of the Seniors Garden (June 27th).

The interior trench connecting to the Educational/Multipurpose Building is in, and the trench crossing Mason Road to allow us to hook up to the District water supply was dug today. While Mason Road was closed, traffic was diverted through the Garden, so lots of people got to see what we’re doing up there. There was actually a traffic jam in front of Building at 4 pm today. Rush hour at the Garden!

June 5: New building from the front.

May 7: Ayuko Inoue reviews some landscaping plans with Don Goodall.

May 7: Carpenters framing the new building, under the federal (CAF)and provincial (ICET) grants.

May 7: Framing of new building outlines the room shapes.

May 7: Bob Wilson and Paddy Blenkinsop building raised beds for the Seniors Garden.

April 25: Foundation walls curing.

April 25: Perimeter drainage in place.

April 1: Wakefield crew member applies finishing touches to new footings.

April 1: Footings poured for new building, framing to begin shortly.

April 1: Mike Carson relocates shrubs to make way for the New Horizons Seniors Garden See the April Salal for more details on this exciting project!

March 25: View improvement in the northeast pond.

March 18: Andrew from John Theed Land Surveyors sites the exact location of Building C.

March 18: New plant storage and volunteer parking area behind Building B.

March 18: Building A walls, windows and doors are framed.

March 18: Mike Carson and Vice President Paddy Wales relocate Serbian Spruce for future replanting.

March 18: Here’s what is going on at the Garden this week…

• A trench was dug from Mason Road around the west side of building B to building A. This is in place for the new water line that will service these two buildings.
• The plumbing in Building A was inspected and passed.
• The slab was poured in the northern-most room of building A, which will become the room that we conduct our messier workshops, as well as in the volunteer office and two new washrooms.
• The exterior walls, door and window openings have been framed and sheeted in this area.
• The water line has been installed and the trench filled in.
• Precise location of building on foundation for Building C was done by Andrew from John Theed (Surveyors).
• The built up area around Building C was increased to allow for legislated ramping to grade level, as well as the terrace on the Garden side (west) of the building.
• The foundation permit for Building C is in place, and the pouring of that foundation is imminent. Final building permit will be forthcoming, after the District of Sechelt receives and approves mechanical and electrical engineers’ drawings.
• A couple of the big slash piles have started being burned. There is a limited window of opportunity to do this, as the air quality index must be consulted before any burning is started. We have the proper permits in place for these burns, and hopefully will get most of these piles taken care of before the coast- wide burning ban is re-instated (that will probably happen earlier this year due to low snow packs and worries of summer drought).
• Some trees that were within the footprint of Building C have been relocated to a temporary home to the west of the vegetable garden. These trees will be replanted in the Garden.
• The area behind Building B has been filled to the level of the new volunteer parking area. The majority of this area will be used for plant storage, and will include part of the hoop house which will be relocated from behind the old farmhouse site.
• The Building Design committee continues to meet weekly. We have been very fortunate to have Dana Brash join us as interior design consultant. Doors, windows, hardware and exterior siding and trim colours will all have to be chosen shortly.

March 15: Fill and leveling of new plant production and storage area and adjacent Volunteer parking area.

March 15: Plant production and storage area, Volunteer parking.

March 15: Mike Carson on excavator, trenching for new water line in front of building B.

March 15: Building A, future Volunteer lunchroom, Volunteer office and two accessible washrooms.

March 15: Building A, drive-in maintenance shop, extra storage area.

March 15: Building A, workshop area ready for concrete slab to be poured.

February 19: For the moment, we are referring to our buildings as either Building A, B or C. Building A and B are existing buildings in the Works Yard area that are being renovated and brought up to proper code for our use. Building C is our brand new building, which will have meeting space, a large assembly/celebration room, public washrooms, an office for the Garden, and a kitchen.

Building B: Newly roofed and (mostly) walled in, this building houses our new warm and dry potting up area, as well as space for equipment storage.

This previously open shed known as Building B now has a new roof, new concrete footings, and is a warm dry place for volunteers to work.

Potting Room, Building B: Newly roofed and (mostly) walled in, this building houses our new warm and dry potting up area, as well as space for equipment storage.

New potting tables: Heinz Tigges, Dale Harvey and Dan Chercover have made new potting tables for the Plant Sale volunteers.

Plant Sale Prep: Even with this massive construction project going on, volunteers have started preparing plants for our big sale May 2nd.

With the mild spring weather, the Plant Sale group has already begun to pot up plants for the May 2 Plant Sale. If you have small trees, shrubs, or perennials to donate, please call 604-886-0494.

Works Yard: Building B in foreground, building A in background (with black roof). Building A will house our volunteer area, washrooms, maintenance shop and workshop area. Work on this building will begin shortly, after the permitting process is complete.

Building C site prepped for construction: This is where our brand new building will go. Due to the very high water table, the site was elevated from the ground with many many loads of permeable material.

Parking Lot: Our new parking lot, located in the Northeast corner of the property. This area allows easy access to our new building, and is utilizing an area that was unsuitable for garden use.

January 27:  The new roof is done on Building A.

January 27:  The parking lot is complete for the time being. There will be more work done to it after the construction of the building is finished, and it is no longer being used by fully loaded dump trucks and other heavy construction vehicles.

January 27:  The walls have started to be framed in the other work building, and this structure will be completed soon so volunteers can begin preparing for the plant sale on May 2nd.

January 27:  This roof has now been completely replaced, and we have a nice, watertight area for volunteers, workshops and equipment maintenance.

January 8:  New footings for Building B, the potting shed.

January 8:  Building B, the potting shed.

January 3:  New fencing and gates almost done.

January 3:  Lots of new fencing material to keep out the deer, elk and cattle..

December 26:  Salmonberries cut back to allow fence repair.

December 26:  View cleared into northwest pond.

December 14:  Mary Blockberger and Paddy Wales putting up Min-Max thermometers to gather climate data.

December 14:  Gray Bradwell marking birch trees for the site survey.

December 14:  Building the new east-west route.

December 11:  Coming in from brushcutting for lunch break.

December 11:  Darryl Lewis clearing the orchard area.

December 11:  President, Mary Blockberger, and Landscape Architect, Patricia Campbell, working on siting the new building.

December 11:  Don Goodall and Patricia Campbell discuss the parking lot.

December 11:  The carpenters take a break from working on the Volunteer Room.

November 30:  A-frame demolished. Skilled operator saves reusable materials such as beams. (Note: Although we had originally hoped to use this building and the old farmhouse, both turned out to be irreparable due to mould.)

November 27:  Clearing of brush, alder, salmonberries, blackberries along the drainage ditches and ring road begins.

November 28:  A ragtag group of very wet volunteers move everything out of the middle “dry room” so it can be renovated, move pots, hardly a complaint about the nasty weather.

November 25:  Backhoe on site waiting for Hydro to pull the plug.