Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Sawtooth Mural





A lot of people have expressed concern about the future of the mural as we look toward expansion.  Nothing has yet been decided as to the ultimate fate of the mural that graces the north wall of the building.  The Co-op's Board of Directors is in the process of gathering information and trying to present the owners of the Co-op and the public in general an overall picture of what saving the mural might entail.  There are many people that have a very personal and passionate connection to the mural but public opinion seems to run the gamut from save the mural "at any cost" to the desire to see the Co-op use its time, energy and money in other ways.

The Co-op has gotten an estimate from Builders Commonwealth, our general contractor, that preserving the north wall that holds the mural would ultimately cost in excess of $25,000.  This estimate includes the time to brace, waterproof, core fill the hollow pockets, stabilize the wall, separate the roof and floor from the wall during the demo phase, add cap flashing and bolt the new wall to the old.  Saving the north wall also somewhat compromises the overall use of the property because the wall is crooked and not on our property line.  Ultimately, there is no guarantee that the mural will survive unscathed and the responsibility of its ongoing maintenance is a cause of concern as well. 

The board heard from Kelly Dupre, one of the teachers involved in the mural project, who explained the history and process of the mural.  The board agreed that a committee should be formed to research saving the wall and to explore other ways to preserve the mural.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Evening of Ideas

We had a successful Evening of Ideas on Tuesday, April 10th.  There was a full house where owners had a chance to see pictures of recently completed Co-op expansions, see preliminary drawings of our project, and everyone had a chance to give input on what they’d like to see in our new Co-op.  At the end of the evening, attendees got “co-op dollars” to spend on their priorities in a new store.  Many folks have stopped by to ask how the vote turned out so here it is:

BUILDING PRIORITIES
Green Materials and Technologies won with 68 votes
Expanded eating area – 32
The Mural – 30
Outdoor Seating Area – 14
Gardens and Landscaping – 13
Classroom – 12
Children’s Area-4
PRODUCT PRIORITIES
Produce won with 57 votes
Bulk - 36
Deli - 27
Bakery - 27
Meat - 14
Packaged - 7
Supplements, Health & Beauty - 3
Non-Food - 2
If you missed the meeting, don’t worry.  You’re welcome to stop by the store and talk about expansion anytime.  You can also call or e-mail if you have questions, ideas or concerns.  We’ve got a pretty tight timeline so things should be moving quickly as we hope to be in a temporary location by September 30th when construction will start on our new store.  I’m currently working on finding a temporary winter location for the Co-op, finalizing details on our owner loan campaign and am working on new store plans.  I’ll try to keep you up to date on this blog as things progress.