What’s Happening?

March 15, 2023 – What is this? This is the opening to the elevator that will occupy this shaft. This is where you will go when you come in the door on Church Street and need to go up one or two floors. This is the doorway to the future of accessibility. We are so pleased that we are able to see all of this from the beginning of construction to when we occupy a beautiful new space. And we are grateful for the construction crew from VMJR who show up every day ready to help us realize God’s Big Dream for this community. #nourishingourcommunity

March 7, 2023 – Had a GREAT onsite meeting today to make essential decisions about electrical wiring and placement. Thanks to GPI, National Grid, our electrical subcontractor, VMJR and our own Mike Lawlor from St. John’s/One Church Street. And then this – building up the walls of the elevator shaft on the first floor! Heading up towards the second!!

February 21, 2023 – Great things happening at One Church Street: Site visit with our contractors, VMJR, to go over progress, decisions about our wood finishes, and the second floor hole is cut for the elevator shaft!

Site meeting with VMJR to update progress.
Door finish choices.
Hey! That’s the Project Manager up there on the second floor.
Down in the depths where they are tamping down the earth around the foundation.
The foundation is in place!!

Check out THIS VIDEO of Mother Laurie flinging dirt into the elevator pit! 

February 14, 2023 – Why is concrete exciting? Because this is the foundation, my friends!!! This is the beginning of full accessibility, the beginning of the Big Dream to make sure everyone can come in, feel welcomed, be fed. This IS an exciting day! See them in action HERE.

February 10, 2023 – We are almost ready for the ‘Big Pour’ – the day the concrete is poured for the foundation of the elevator and then for the framing. It is amazing the hard work these men do – bending rebar is not easy! One Church Street was featured in the contractor’s company newsletter because of the difficulty of hand-digging the pit they are now going to fill with concrete. It makes one stop and appreciate the different gifts that people bring into this project to make it a reality. Thanks VMJR, for all the hard, good work you are doing. It may be hard to figure out what they are doing by these pics: concrete will be poured into the blue-ish funnels and guided down, through fabric tubes, into the foundation.

The funnel.
Funnels with fabric tubes hanging down into the basement from the first floor.
Where it all ends up, covering this rebar framework to create a strong foundation. You’ll see the fabric tubes coming down on either side of the wooden square in the middle.

February 6, 2023 – Today was another interesting day at One Church Street. Dave Ritrovato drove his trusty van out to Johnstown to pick up 7 of our smaller cast iron radiators to repurpose them for people doing historic renovations in Capital region homes. The funds from those sales get poured back into renovation projects that Historic Albany Parts Warehouse, a nonprofit organization, is working on in the city of Albany. Thanks to Dave, and to Ron and Wes from our site, who pushed, pulled and wheeled those babies out to Dave’s van. (We have 7 more radiators still available, but you need to move them yourself! Otherwise they have to go to the scrap heap.)

Radiator #1 being put in the van
Dave getting ready to head out in the trusty (rusty??) van
Don’t miss Bert and Ernie on the front of the van!
Oh yeah, with things this heavy it takes a village!!!

January 31, 2023 – Going through the building to see the progress…you’ll see them getting ready to pour the concrete in the elevator shaft to create a foundation pad. We also had a chance to see the pieces of the boiler in the back of a truck–up to 500 pounds each. Jeff Brown came through with us, asked questions and met the VMJR team. We can’t wait! How about you?

January 28, 2023 – Does anyone know what this cast iron behemoth used to be? Pieces of our leaky, noisy, steamy, expensive boiler! This is great progress as we move forward at One Church Street–all new and efficient heating and cooling! We can’t wait!

January 17, 2023 – Photos from our Site Meeting this morning with CT Male and VMJR–progress is being made!

Meeting in the Hawkins Room before the site tour.
On the third floor–things to check out in the ceiling as we plan HVAC placement.
Looking at some of our other basement construction areas.
The Big Pit in the basement where they dug down 8 feet into the dirt to create room for the elevator shaft.
Yes–here it is! The Knox Pool sign remains untouched!!!

January 12, 2023 – Dirt and gunk and pipes and HUGE boulders and hard, hard work–remember this part is not glamorous, but it is the best part. VMJR is digging into the basement to get the elevator shaft situated. Alistair said they are down about 8 feet into the ground below floor level at this point. Hard work. Good work. We know this will pay off when we welcome our guests into the building. We are thankful and WE CAN’T WAIT!

January 3, 2023 – Leader Herald follow-up article

Johnstown org raises $373k for ex-YMCA project

December 31, 2022 –  Check out this video walkthrough of the kitchen and dining room area upstairs at One Church Street

https://www.facebook.com/onechurchstreetjohnstown/videos/3247911015521062

December 19, 2022 – Construction continues moving forward!

Recognize that mosaic? Now we can see right through the wall!
Looking from the gym into the newly opened space that used to store basketballs and gym equipment.
ML’s office looks pretty great with exposed brick…which will be covered up again.
An excellent overview of the entire first floor from the staircase.

December 14, 2022 – Our Holiday Match Challenge – thanks to the Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family – made the Leader! Read all about it here: https://leaderherald.com/gloversville-local-news-johnstown-local-news/local-news/2022/12/johnstown-community-organization-seeks-200k-for-long-awaited-renovations/

December 13, 2022 – Amazing to see all this going on. New life out of an old building!

Door leading to Church Street
Bible Study Meeting Room
Ceiling in the main room where the elevator is going through
Work in the basement
Getting the basement ready for the elevator shaft
More work in the basement
Looking from the door to N. Market Street where Terri’s desk used to be.

December 5, 2022 – Let’s check in with Tom from the Steering Committee on building updates and an exciting announcement!

November 30, 2022 – Oh happy day, happy day!!! They are done with the asbestos abatement! Next step: demo! You can see the places where the new walls are going to be built and the place where we are going to be putting in the elevator.

November 21, 2022 – Good good news! Thanks to First Choice Credit Union and Jennifer Ligon, who works there, we are the recipient of a Gift of Joy to help us nourish our neighbors through our Sunday NOAH meals program. Thank you Jennifer AND First Choice Credit Union!

November 19, 2022 – Generosity. Time. Thoughtfulness. Family. Theresa and her daughter delivered THIRTY pies for our Food Pantry, NOAH Program and our Code Blue meals tomorrow. Beautiful, homemade pies made by a local Amish family. Berry. Pumpkin. Peach. Apple. Thank you Theresa and family! You have helped others have a special treat this Thanksgiving week. We are thankful to you.

November 16, 2022 – You’ve done it again! You’ve shown kindness, compassion and generosity to our Food Pantry Guests who most needed your help. Thank you for loving your neighbor and making sure that they have everything they need for a Happy Thanksgiving Day! Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to all of you and to those you love. Keep up the ThanksLIVING!

October 11, 2022 – Work has officially begun! Here are some quite UNglamorous yet very exciting photos! The construction crew is on site and the containment system for the asbestos is being built.

Check out our current list of vendors for the Twilight Market!

Brett’s Farm Stand
Fidelis Care
Fulton Co. Office for Aging & Youth
Hadcock Family Farm
Harmony Harvest and Herd, LLC
La Palma
Lularoe with Shekinah Witcher
Mama Time Crafts
Marissa Mae’s Confections
Mohawk Harvest Cooperative Market
Philia Farms
Second Wind Coffee LLC
St. Mary’s Healthcare
The Mac Factor
Tylutki Family Farms
World’s End Farm

August 8, 2022 – SAVE THE DATE

Check back for updated vendor list and entertainment lineup

July 26, 2022 – We keep working towards the day of demolition! Construction planning meeting with the One Church team: reps from CT Male, VMJR and of course, St. John’s!!!

June 22, 2022 – How incredibly thoughtful that C.T. Male Associates chose One Church Street on Positive Media Day to be their focus!

We’re on TV!!

Watch the May 2022 interview during the local segment of “Good Morning America”.