A view from the top

shows how high up the new school will be ... just take a minute to look back at the past three week's blog entries, and the progress on our site is so evident!

From the top, and inside

so much to see... Tuesday, October 21, much more concrete was poured on the upper deck.  We all think that it was a bit of a miracle that the big rains in the forecast held off till the pour was completed.
Nonetheless, into the night and during the day on Wednesday, big machines helped to level off the concrete in preparation for future smooth flooring installation.

Once inside the building, the split level design of the school becomes abundantly apparent as the 'visitor' chooses to go up  l/2 floor or down l/2 floor. The five classroom spaces on each level are becoming more obvious, and huge spaces await the installation of future windows. 

(If you take a minute to go back into blog photos over the past six weeks, you can readily see the progress that has occured recently.)

The children continue to pray for the safety of all those workers spending their days to build us a 'school all bright and new'.

View from the 3rd floor deck...

shows us the upcoming height of our new school site.  Both the steel and the hosing for the radiant flooring are filling up the space, and over the course of the coming weeks, will be covered with concrete. 

Because we cannot see...

'inside' our growing up buiding, it was very exciting to receive these photos from Yellowridge which show the framing for stairwells for our new school.  The design allows for a split-level 3 floor arrangement, and these shots show both interior and exterior stairwells under construction.

As well, the west side of the site continues to be developed, making way for what will be our drive-through lane.

Let a couple of days pass...

and look what happens!

When we weren't watching, a big digger moved onto the site last week - and it has begun working on the far west section of our site - preparing to make way eventually for the back lane that will provide our parents with a 'school drop zone'.  As well, the exterior walls for floor 3 and its floor are being prepared for another big concrete pour.

It continues to be delightful to have neighbours, parishioners and friends walking by and offering their positive and encouraging comments to us.
Our children continue to hold the safety of the workers on our site in their thoughts and prayers in our mass intentions each month.

Up, up and away ...

captures what is rising up from the second floor foundation. The accompanying photos show us the erection of the walls of floor two. This coming Wednesday, September 24, we expect another day with a big pour of concrete.

We want to continually keep in our prayers the workers on our job-site, while celebrating that those of us close to the site each day get to witness the demanding details that go into making such a large school building

From the 'roof' of the first floor...

you can see what a whole floor of poured concrete looks like!  These most recent photos were taken Friday, September 5 when the second floor was being poured.  It was quite the day, with side-by-side concrete trucks on the site, having their contents being pumped over the course of long and a busy day.  The intricate coordination of work coincided with an absolutely gorgeous sunny day in Vancouver and an audience of parents, staff and children who were so excited!

Watching the crane move items around on the site has become a 'new favourite' for all of us - from moving the porta-potty to the roof, to relocating the 'shed' where workers assemble goods (and maybe even seek some protection from the sun), to lifting extremely big and heavy bundles of steel - to relocation framing materials - it is amazing!

Of course, now that the 2nd floor is in place, the walls to that floor will soon appear - and up we go!

Occasionally, you will find matching photos on the front page of the website - we are hoping that this increased coverage will help everyone keep abreast of our project's progress.