The worlds top banks are sending hundreds of staff to disaster recovery sites in preparation for coronavirus outbreaks, Financial Times reports.

JPMorgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs have reportedly tested sites in London and the US recently, spreading staff between head offices and off-site locations to ensure a single coronavirus incident doesnt cripple their ability to trade.

[Read:Morgan Stanleys $13B E-Trade buyout is the biggest bank deal since the financial crash]

Citigroup has even gone so far as to install extra screens in employees homes so that they resemble a trading floor, FTs sources said.

It comes under our judgment the decision has got to be made every day, one source told reporters. These are pretty extreme contingency plans []. Its unlikely to happen, but its possible.

Working from home while an option for many bank workers could be a problem for traders who require the ability to instantly open and close positions. Senior bank execs are reportedly concerned their children could slow down their internet connections by streaming Netflix while schools are closed.

Some disaster recovery sites are said to be lacking in appropriate infrastructure to fulfil regulatory requirements, such as telephone lines that can be reported, leading some banks to push for flexibility as the situation unfolds.

Published March 4, 2020 16:22 UTC

Link:
Banks are turning homes into trading floors to prep for coronavirus outbreaks - The Next Web

My wife and I were worried. Before our baby arrived in early February, we took frequent road trips up and down the eastern seaboard. That meant lots of driving, with lots of stops. Hauling a growing infant, strapped into a car seat, in and out of vehicles is a fairly hard-core workout, especially with my wife recovering from a C-section. So we needed the right gear baby gear to keep our newly-formed trio mobile. The solution: The ultra-portable 8 pound Nuna Pipa car seat, a sleek, AAP-approved safety carrier thats the most lightweight rear-facing car seat on the market. We clip Cleo in. We hoist her out. And we do so without needing to see an orthopedist.

The list of AAP-approved car seats is long, but so were our requirements. And the Pipa punches way above its admittedly low weight. Its made without the use of fire-retardant chemicals, which the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has linked to endocrine, developmental, and neurological problems. Any reduction in potential chemical exposure was a plus in our book. And the car seat has serious side-impact protection, and installs quickly, thanks to the brands true lock system. The car seat clicks into place, and youre done.

This 8-pound car seat takes seconds to install, and is made without the use of any fire retardants.

It has a sun-blocking dream drape, to make sure your baby stays asleep and isnt bothered by mother nature or germ-wielding looky-loos, and a mesh peek-a-boo window so we could gaze upon the wonder that is our child. Theres an infant insert that is removable and washable. And if youre taking a cab, as we often do, you can use it with a seatbelt, without having to buy an extra base. The car seat can be used for babies from 4 to 35 pounds.

Before I became acquainted with the Pipa, I had always assumed a baby would weigh us down, but the Nuna accessories have proven to be nearly weightless. The Pipa car seat out of the base weighs 8 pounds, and with the 7-pound baby Cleo in it, that amounted to a manageable 15-pound load for me and, more importantly, my wife, who had undergone a C-section.

But heres the thing: Despite its very light load, the Pipa is made from aerospace aluminum and the shell is made from foam; it has a crumple zone within the stability leg that absorbs impact in the event of a crash. The Pipa has a heavy-duty shell with excellent side collision protection, its 20-pound base is constructed like a Sherman tank and has a thick stability leg.

Now, to be clear, Nuna makes an even lighter car seat, called the Lite, and it weighs 5.3 pounds. However, thats without the canopy or insert. So we opted for the very slightly heavier option, since the canopy is pretty critical for protecting the kiddo from the sun.

One last thing worth noting: Were new parents and by definition, were paranoid. Or vigilant, if you want to be polite. So Im happy to report that attaching the Pipa base was simple. The back of the base connected to the brackets in the passenger seat of our SUV the middle seat in our vehicle doesnt have those brackets, despite recommendations online to use the middle seat when placing car seats, so we chose to put the base where the brackets wereand the stability leg popped out and fit securely on the floor.

The leg has an indicator that signals green when the placement is correct, and the base has a built-in level that shows when it is even. The install took a few minutes, with me following along with a Nuna install how-to video (there are many) from YouTube. I then took the added step of driving it to the local fire department, where a firefighter verified that the installation was done correctly. And now, we pop the car seat in, and Cleo is ready to ride.

Every product on Fatherly is independently selected by our editors, writers, and experts. If you click a link on our site and buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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The Nuna Pipa is the Toughest Lightweight Car Seat and It's a Tank - Fatherly

WATERTOWN With the project sitting idle for months, work will resume this summer on restoring the exterior of the historic Masonic Temple building on Washington Street.

The owners will focus on two big projects restoring the front portico and installing an elevator in the landmark at 242 Washington St.

Work also will include repairing the soffit, the overhang near the roof thats now covered by netting to prevent pieces of the building to fall from above.

The project has been stalled while owners Augusta Withington and Robert J. Campany, who co-own Fourth Coast Inc., a renewable energy company in Clayton, figure out how to go about completing the exterior work.

Youre going to see some activity there this summer, Mr. Campany said,

For months, orange scaffolding has surrounded one of the six fluted Doric columns on the front of the Greek Neoclassical style building after workers carefully removed its outer layer last year.

The owners are working with the state Historic Preservation Office, or SHIPO, on finalizing the drawings for the project. Theyre also looking at what type of material should be used to restore the columns at the front of the building, he said.

Last week, Mr. Campany met with Carolyn Meunier, the citys code enforcement supervisor, and City Engineer Michael DeLaney about the project. Fourth Coast officials wanted to get feedback on plans to possibly install the elevator within the buildings footprint.

Mrs. Meunier said shes excited about the project. I think its a beautiful building, she said. I think its great theyre going to be working on it.

The project was one of the recipients of the citys $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative program. The Masonic Temple was awarded $2.2 million in DRI funding and $500,000 each in the states Restore NY and Consolidated Funding Application programs.

While the facade work will resume this summer, Mr. Campany stressed that the $10 million to turn the building into multiuse performance and event venue is a multiyear project.

Plans also call for turning the basement into some kind of food business and possibly creating loft apartments in the former gym on the third floor. The first floor has professional offices, with The Tunes 92.5 FM WBLH radio station and a handful of other tenants now occupying space on the main floor.

He would not speculate how long it will take to complete the entire project, saying it will depend on the availability of additional funding.

State DRI folks have not been pressuring Fourth Coast to get the Masonic Temple project done, Mr. Campany said.

I think everyone is anxious for it to begin, said Michael A. Lumbis, the citys planning and community development director.

The Masonic Temple is one of 10 DRI projects getting funding. The projects are in varying stages of planning to completion.

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Exterior work on Masonic Temple building to resume this summer - NNY360

A plate is dually useful, holding food or church collections, and so, too, is the cup, at once a trophy and a grail. But the vase has always simply held flowers, the vessel and its mate inseparable. Inside, greens stand upright, just as they grow in the fields, the reservoir of water at the bottom a magic trick that prolongs the illusion of life.

But what if the bouquet breaks free to snake up the edge of a door, lies on the tile floor like a thick, knotted carpet or gathers above our heads an unruly poof of twisted, thorny stems and palm fronds laced improbably with purplish-black hydrangea like a stop-motion explosion, miraculous and disorienting? What if we allow flowers to transmogrify into a sculptural medium like clay or marble or steel, unique in their ephemerality but ultimately just another organic formation?

I almost cant remember the time when I was a slave to the vase, says Ruby Barber, 31, among the floral artists who have in recent years rendered the word arrangement quaint. The daughter of contemporary art gallerists, Barber moved from her native Sydney, Australia, in 2012 to Berlin, where, in her studio, Mary Lennox, she often crafts monumental Rorschach-like installations that seem not merely to defy gravity but to openly taunt it: armfuls of dried pampas grass, amaranth and loopy hops that hang from hooks on the ceiling; a geyser of translucent lunaria seedpods glinting like silver dollars in place of a chandelier in a Paris apartment; a staircase banister wrapped with cherry and orange boughs braided with Queen Annes lace. While she works with fresh flowers in the spring and summer, Barber finds herself increasingly using dried materials; their stiffness lends itself to abstraction and frees her from using imported commercial flowers from the Netherlands or China in the autumn and winter. More and more, people want something that can be reused and have another life, she says. I have hardly been asked to do a regular table centerpiece lately, which I think is indicative of change in the air.

It makes a certain sense that the once ubiquitous symmetrical dome of roses, clonelike in its perfection, seems to have vanished. Lets face it, they were like a salon blowout, says Alex Eagle, who often features Barbers concoctions in her eponymous clothing and furniture boutique in Berlin. The demise of conventional floristry has been hastened as well by the rejection of toxic floral foam; its replacements chicken wire or recycled coconut husks have spurred creativity. At a recent dinner Eagle hosted at her London home, the florist Simone Gooch of Fjura placed rose plants in large cubes of exposed soil at the center of the table, their roots fanning out in all directions. They were so transfixing, so beautiful to look at. Afterwards, I took them and planted them in my garden, Eagle says.

Social media is behind some of this change, of course, altering how we perceive beauty, freezing it in place, giving an afterlife to a cluster of blossoms that might wilt overnight, but floral artists have also tapped into an inchoate desire in recent times to cultivate imperfection and even a touch of chaos. As the world beyond seems to spin out of control, we try to soothe ourselves for a while with the illusion of order and symmetry. But at a certain point, we simply let go.

Violeta Gladstone, 40, whose floral studio is in Barcelona, Spain, appreciates the raw geometries of the artist Richard Serra, whose recent series of sculptures, exhibited at Gagosian in New Yorks Chelsea neighborhood last fall, featured 50-ton forged steel cylinders of varying heights and diameters. You want strength and courage in your forms, says Gladstone, who listens to Chet Baker and Claude Debussy, among others, as she works, letting their riffs inspire her floral imagery. For an installation last year, she stacked philosophy books amid a jungle of magnolia leaves, grasses and snapdragons, punctuating the scene with newly sprouted grape hyacinth bulbs caked with dirt, like tiny purple pearls in the wreckage. In another of her arrangements, a mass of tissue-petaled ivory peonies is disrupted by an alabaster anthurium, its spadix jutting up from the flowers platelike surface.

Are there limits to floral abstraction, as the vase recedes further and further into the distance? Perhaps only those of nature; the New York-based floral designer Emily Thompson, 46, a pioneer of sculptural interpretation, cautions us not to stray too far from what makes a flower bloom: a source of water. Flowers, she says, remind us of what it takes to sustain life. At the Pool, one of two restaurants inside the landmarked Philip Johnson-designed space that was once the Four Seasons, her massive revolving installation was erected for nearly a year in the dining rooms 14-by-14-foot pool, transforming it into a giant vase. Like a volcano, it seemed to spit forth its arrangement: a 14-foot-high foundation of gloriously twisted mountain laurel branches covered in lichen, wrapped in foraged invasive greenbrier vines. Each week, Thompson altered its identity, dappling the mass with local flowering quince, velvet philodendrons or autumn foliage and berries, depending on the season. The flowers spilled, they climbed, they drenched one another. There is a balance between pushing the boundaries of art and retaining identity, the very essence of what makes flowers so powerful, Thompson says. Its as much a moral question as an aesthetic one.

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How Floral Arrangements Began to Take Over the Table and the Entire Room - The New York Times

When you walk through the doors at Station Gallery in Whitby, Ont., you're immediately hit with a warm, creamy scent emanating from the inner gallery. It might not be obvious when you see it, but artist Noni Kaur's brightly coloured installation is made using 200lbs of pure desiccated coconut.

Her exhibition "Microbial Feasts" has taken over Station Gallery, and includes her multimedia works, windowcoverings, and the show-stopping coconut installation that covers almost the entire floor of one room.

Kaur has created her coconut installations around the world, from Tokyo to Havana (you can also currently find another one at the Ottawa School of Art until March 28) and no two installations are ever the same. "What you see here is only going to be shown in this space and every time the work is shown in a different space it takes on a different form," she explains.

The installation references the tradition of rangoli where colourful designs in rice, sand, pigment or flowers decorate floors in homes and public spaces. Rangoli is practiced in India and Singapore, where Kaur grew up, but she has put her own mark on the practice by using coconut and her signature abstract designs.

"It takes a long long process for it to even get to this stage," says Kaur. She uses her own formulas to hand-dye the coconut for maximum saturation. After several weeks, when the coconut is completely dry, she spends hours pouring out the design on the floor of her installation space.

The design evokes the female reproductive system, and like the human body, it breaks down as time goes on. The show will be up for almost two months (until March 22, 2020), and Kaur welcomes bacteria and decay to take over the coconut hence the name "microbial feasts."

When the exhibition is over, Kaur sweeps up the coconut and moves on to the next show. The installation is ephemeral just like life.

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You'll never guess what this installation is made of...until you smell it - CBC.ca

City officials are one step closer to giving the nod for interior renovation work to begin at Blackshears historic train depot, but theres still one hurdle to navigate revision of the citys alcohol ordinance.

The city council will need to consider a revision to its alcohol ordinance to potentially allow for alcoholic beverages to be served at events in the depot, if the former freight depot is renovated as an event venue for weddings, family reunions and other gatherings.

If theres any issues about the lack of alcohol service in this building, if it wouldnt get passed, you can forget doing this, says Angela Manders, Chamber of Commerce executive director. Thats got to pass before we ever start on (the renovation).

Larry Jones, architect with Valdosta-based firm Ellis, Ricket and Associates, agrees.

Last week, Jones told a committee of council members and city department heads tasked with researching the renovation project at a meeting the ability to serve alcohol at events would be the number one question people interested in renting the space will ask.

Mayor Kevin Grissom appointed Manders, council members Corey Lesseig and Charles Broady, Better Hometown Manager Bethany Strickland and Police Chief Chris Wright to a committee several months ago tasked with researching the renovation project. The committee, except for Broady, met with Jones last Thursday to review project plans his firm created several years ago when the exterior of the depot was renovated. That work was completed in 2017.

Councilman Keith Brooks, Industrial Development Authority Director Matt Carter, Mayor Kevin Grissom and City Clerk Jenny Grant also attended the meeting.

Lesseig and Brooks indicated they would have the alcohol ordinance revision placed on the councils work session agenda for Monday, March 2. (See related story).

Well know by Tuesday how its going to go, Lesseig told the group.

Blackshear could potentially model their ordinance after the City of Patterson. Their ordinance allows for alcohol to be served at events held in Eagle Station, one of the most-booked event venues in Pierce County.

Should the renovation work proceed, it would also include renovation of the Chamber of Commerce and IDA offices housed in the front section of the depot as well. The committee asked Jones to draft plans for that work to include removing the drop ceiling and restoring the original beat board, pine ceilings above, tearing out the carpet and staining the concrete floor underneath. The renovation would feature exposed ductwork and beams throughout the building.

Well build cross beams that look original to use for duct work, Jones says.

Bathrooms in those offices will be remodeled to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.

Renovations to the freight depot will include construction of bathrooms, a catering kitchen and a mechanical room. Most of the room would be restored as an event space able to accommodate 240 people. Contractors will fill the walls with insulation, cover them in felt, and then install heart pine boards as many of the originals as can be restored over the walls. The boards will be sanded and finished to look like new, Jones says.

The depot floor will also be stabilized with plywood underneath to help absorb the vibration of passing trains, and the cracks between the pine planks sealed before the floor is refurbished. A removable platform will be constructed over the old scales still in their original location on the depot floor and LED lighting that appears to be 19th century period will be installed.

New electrical wiring, HVAC system and technology to accommodate group presentations will also be installed in the depot. The depot will be equipped with Wifi.

Manders and Carter would move their offices temporarily to the newly refurbished depot while renovations to their offices are completed as the second phase of the project.

Jones was not able to provide the committee with a budget estimate for the work last week, but was instructed to draw up two contracts one for the freight depot and one for the Chamber and IDA offices that would include those estimations.

Jones did advise the committee that renovation work moves slowly, and estimated it would take 18 months to renovate the freight depot.

New construction goes real fast. Restoration work goes real slow, he said. A lot of this is hand labor, not just machine work.

A lot of gold youll find when you start tearing out you say, my plans were to tear all this up, but my plans just changed, Jones added.

The city is researching several funding options for the work, including a Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) loan/grant program, and/or interim financing through a local bank. The city also has SPLOST (special purpose local option sales tax) monies allocated for capital improvement projects available.

The train depot exterior renovation was funded through a $250,000 grant that required the city to match $25,000 for a total project cost of $275,000. Exterior renovations, also designed by Jones firm, included a new insulated roof, brick repair and vandalism damage repair, trim paint, skirting around the building. The deck was rebuilt, wheelchair ramp and railings installed.

Ellis, Ricket and Associates specializes in designing historic renovation projects. See photos of other train depots theyve renovated at https://eraarchitects.com/.

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Will Train Depot be restored at last? | News - Blackshear Times

Thyssenkrupp, the German engineering giant, announced last week that it would sell its elevator business to a group of private equity companies for $18.9B more than 2x the value of the entire parent company.

The sale was a last-ditch attempt to turn around years of declining profits.

But it was also the largest private equity deal in Europe since the 2008 financial crisis.

Simple: The market is dominated by an elevator-gopoly that keeps prices at the top floor.

Four companies command more than 60% of the elevator market:

In 2006, these 4 companies (along with rival Mitsubishi Elevator Europe) were found guilty of price fixing. They paid fines but continued to dominate the lucrative lift business.

After years of declining revenue in a struggling German economy, even Thyssenkrupps moneymaking elevators could no longer hold up its other businesses.

Thyssenkrupps debt got so heavy $7.1B on its latest earnings statement that activist investors began to call for the company to sell off its elevator business to pay down debts.

And so they did for $18.9B, or about 2.8x the entire parent companys market cap of $6.7B.

The elevator market is expected to remain strong thanks to increasing construction of tall buildings, particularly across Asia (more than 60% of new elevator installations occur in China).

And as elevators become more complex, giants like Otis have begun to sell subscription-based management services.

That service revenue is going up and fast. In 2018, Otis raked in $12.9B in revenue. The company says 45% of its revenue comes from the sales of new equipment and 55% comes from service.

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After ups and downs, Thyssenkrupp sells its elevator business at a top-floor price - The Hustle

The Square shopping center in Tallaght, Dublin required a car park refurbishment after it's existing 4,200m coating system had begun delaminating from the substrate.

Following a Triflex Intelligent Roof Protection and Living Life Outside CPD which was delivered by Business Development Manager, Andrew Stewart at McGovern Surveyors in Dublin, the attendees queried the use of Triflex surfacing and protection systems on car parks.

A surveyor within the McGovern team had recently acquired a car park refurbishment project at The Square Shopping Centre in Tallaght, near to Dublin. Initially, the plan for the project was to replace the failed 4,200m system with a 30mm thick asphalt system.

The existing liquid system had caused problems for many years, it was delaminating, cracked and badly worn. Leaving the client looking for an alternative solution to liquid waterproofing.

After discussing the project at length, it was clear there were a lot of obstacles that couldnt be overcome by using an asphalt system:

The surveyor believed that Triflex PMMA solutions may be the answer to the car parks issues, and found that our experience and extensive knowledge of waterproofing, surfacing and protecting car parks was invaluable. McGovern Surveyors decided to delay the tender package by a week and allowed Triflex to put forward a proposal.

With the tight timescale, the Triflex field technicians were quick to respond and carried out a thorough on-site investigation, including core and peel adhesion tests. Following the results of the on-site survey, a full bespoke specification was provided in time for the tender.

Following the tender process, the feedback from the surveyor was that the Triflex price was significantly cheaper than any of the asphalt proposals, but more importantly, surpassed the areas of concern where asphalt faltered. And so, the client and surveyors specified Triflex and appointed Triflex Authorised Contracting partners, Advanced Flooring Systems to provide the solution at The Square Shopping Centre car park.

Prior to any system being installed, Advanced Flooring Systems carried out all prework and preparations to the decks to ensure the best possible bond would be achieved between the substrate and the Triflex system. Often, Triflex is the ideal solution to overlay existing failed liquid systems as it has the highest levels of compatibility. However, in this case, the existing coating was in such poor condition that adhering to it would be pointless, and therefore, it would require removal of the existing liquid system before installation.

Once the failed system had been planed off and the substrate treated, installation works could begin. Cracks along the back of the beams were identified and, because cracking in the screed between the planks was so regular our partially reinforced system, Triflex DeckFloor was specified to provide a reliable solution.

Triflex DeckFloor is a heavy-duty, flexible system. Utilizing PMMA waterproofing technology and high tensile strength reinforcement in high-risk areas. The system has been used for more than 20 years and has been proved to extend building life, exceed health and safety requirements and enhance aesthetics for maximum visual impact.

It was requested that the finished decks matched the original colors of the previous system, but the newly installed system has provided a new spring of life. Triflex Preco Line 300 and Triflex Cold Plastic were installed to provide robust and lasting demarcation for the bay lines and arrows.

I would like to thank Triflex and their Field Technician Team for their continuous assistance during the installation. Their attention to detail and constant monitoring of the ongoing works proved in-valuable during the project and has helped to achieve a quality end result and a happy client, said Michael Nolan, Breffni Building & Civil Eng. Ltd. T/A Breffni Group

Triflexis the leading European specialist in liquid waterproofing products and cold plastics. Ourhigh-quality systems provide reliable and lasting solutions for waterproofing roofs, balconies, and parking decks. In addition, we prove our technology leadership time and again with a whole range of special solutions. Triflex markings set the standard on roads and cycle paths, in factories and multi-story car parks.We deliver individual solutions worldwide from our production facilities in Minden, Germany. We can boast more than 40 years of experience in the market. Reliability, focus on service and innovation are the values we work by every day in our customers interest.

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Triflex Offers The Square Shopping Centre an Excellent Alternative to Asphalt - Parking Network

The floor of the Abyssinian Meeting House has been battered and bruised since the timber-frame building was raised in Portlands historic East End neighborhood nearly 200 years ago.

Members of the citys first African-American congregation stepped to their pews and fidgeted through fiery sermons. Crowds gathered to hear moving speeches by well-known abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison. And black children studied reading, writing and arithmetic before Portlands schools were integrated.

After the church closed in 1917 a tragic result of the worst maritime disaster in New England history it was converted into several low-budget apartments. Pews were ripped out, two additional floors and many walls were added, plumbing and heating ducts were installed, and decades of tenants continued the wear and tear on the wide pine planks.

Two house fires did more damage, leaving charred and weakened timbers behind.

Now, the original floor of the historic meetinghouse is being restored. Its the latest effort by the Abyssinian Restoration Project to save and call attention to a critical and long-neglected aspect of state, local and national history.

The history that the floor reveals is amazing, said Leonard Cummings Sr., a leader of the group thats restoring the Abyssinian. Its a part of black history in Maine that has been omitted for a long time and its finally being told.

With surgical precision, skilled carpenters are removing damaged sections of the 36-by-50-foot floor and replacing them with new pine boards. Smaller holes and gaps are also being filled with carefully fitted plugs or patches known as dutchmen. All of it is being done according to strict federal standards for historic preservation and restoration.

The resulting patchwork of light- and dark-colored wood has a random beauty that perhaps only preservation advocates or a restoration contractor could love.

If you look closely at a building, youll know exactly what the builders were thinking, said Les Fossel, owner of Restoration Resources, the Alna-based company thats restoring the floor.

The project is an important step toward making the Abyssinian a community center once again.

This isnt (meant to be) a museum, Fossel said. Its a living part of the community. The idea is to create a floor that people can walk on safely. So were fixing everything someone might trip over.

In past years, floors and walls added during the 20th century have been removed. The buildings remarkable timber-frame structure was repaired and restored, along with its stone foundation. The once-sacred space now soars two stories above the original floor, making it easier to imagine the people who built and used the meetinghouse.

Built in 1828, the Abyssinian is the nations third-oldest meetinghouse built by a black congregation, after churches in Boston and Nantucket. Its listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a northern hub of the Underground Railroad and the anti-slavery movement.

In 1826, six free black men Reuben Ruby, Caleb Jonson, Clemant Tomson, Job Wentworth, Christopher Manuel and John Sigs published a letter in a local newspaper, announcing their plan to build a church for Portlands black community. They no longer wanted to be relegated to the back pews of Portlands white congregations.

Pardon our misapprehensions, if they be such, the men wrote, (but) we have sometimes thought our attendance was not desired.

The Abyssinian thrived through the 1800s as the religious and cultural heart of Portlands black community. Church membership took a serious blow in 1898, when the SS Portland was caught in a terrible storm and sank during a return trip from Boston.

At least 194 people died when the steamship went down, including 19 crew members who attended the Abyssinian. Two of them were church trustees. The congregation never recovered and eventually closed.

City officials sold the boarded-up, tax-delinquent property to the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian in 1998 for $250. Since then, the nonprofit group has worked to stabilize, study and restore the building through grants and donations.

Cummings said the floor restoration is part of a $75,000 project that includes two circular stairways that are being built in the entryway of the church by Thomas Thomsen, a local restoration contractor. Like the original stairways, they will serve two doorways that eventually will be restored in the buildings facade.

The next major project will be the installation of eight new, 28-paned windows like the originals that stretched over two stories. Theyll cost about $125,000 and will be installed as funding is available, Cummings said.

With each improvement, the Abyssinian moves closer to becoming the community hub that it once was.

When the floor restoration project wraps up in a week or so, the boards will be washed and treated with a forgiving oil finish. Eventually, Fossel said, the pale new wood will turn honey-colored and blend with the original boards. Visitors to the meetinghouse wont even notice the restoration work unless they look for it.

Michael Drage, one of Fossels employees, doesnt mind that his careful work will someday be ignored. On his hands and knees, the carpenter from Dresden is cutting out damaged wood and carefully patching the gaps. As he mends the warped, cracked and dinged boards, his mind wanders back through the centuries.

I think about the people who made these marks, Drage said, pointing out deep grooves in an old plank. Im just putting in a floor, but this is an important place for a lot of people.

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Where the past walked, a step forward at Abyssinian - Press Herald

TERRE HAUTE A $50,000 NBA All-Star Legacy Grant to Chances and Services for Youth has jump-started a major renovation project for the gym at the Booker T. Washington Community Center in Terre Haute, where CASY makes its home.

Renovations will include refurbishing the centers gym floor, installing foam wall pads used for basketball and installing a roll up curtain that will divide the court.

Tribune-Star/Howard GreningerBrandon Halleck, chief operating officer for Chances and Services for Youth, plans to undertake $155,000 in improvements to the Booker T. Washington Community Center, spearheaded with a $50,000 NBA All-Star Legacy Grant. Halleck said CASY also has received an additional $50,000 anonymous grant. CASY hopes to raise the remainder of funds by the start of the work in August.

In addition to the NBA grant, Brandon Halleck, CASYs chief operating officer, said the organization has received an additional $50,000 from an anonymous donor. That is leading to additional improvements including new bleachers, new roof and painting, among other items.

In all, slated improvements will cost $155,000.

Halleck said he is confident he can raise the remaining $55,000 for the project prior to an anticipated August start. CASY has until February 2021, prior to the tip of the NBA All-Star 2021 game in Indianapolis, to complete the project under the grant terms.

The NBA All-Star 2021 Host Committee on Thursday awarded 21 organizations with a grant, distributing $1 million in grants up to $50,000 to 21 brick-and-mortar projects focused on health and wellness or education. The grants were distributed among 18 Indiana counties, chosen from 182 applicants statewide.

We had an overwhelmingly positive response statewide to the grant applications, Rick Fuson, founding chairman, All-Star Board of Directors and president and chief operating officer of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, said in a news release.

Narrowing the list to 21 grant recipients involved considerable review and discussion by our Legacy Committee. They had to make tough choices amongst a pool of incredibly strong and impactful grant requests, Fuson said.

Grant factors included clear project objectives, funding and budget information, identified partners, number of people served and a demonstrated need.

This grant will further expand our services in youth sports and development and help us reach our vision that every child, every age, every chance has the opportunity to grow up safe, healthy and drug-free, Halleck said.

Part of the renovation will remove five sections of wooden pull-out bleachers, replacing them with three sections of modern bleachers with a center walkway space, which makes the bleachers more accessible and safe, Halleck said. The bleachers, which will be electronically opened and closed, will have 250 to 260 seats.

It will cost $85,000 for the three sets of bleachers, Halleck said. If we need to put more bleachers in, we can address that later on.

The gyms scoreboard will be replaced and a scorers table will be added. The gym floor will be completely stripped and refurbished with new lines for basketball and pickleball, possibly with some floor mounts for volleyball nets, Halleck said.

Additionally, the gyms interior will be painted, which will cost about $7,000, Halleck said.

A center divider now at the gym is an old panel divider system, which does not remain in place, has scratched part of the gym floor and is difficult to extend with its track not fully intact. The panels were always teetering and I could envision a panel that could fall, so we stopped using it, Halleck said.

A new divider will be vinyl with a mess top and will also be electronically operated, Halleck said.

Also, Halleck said he plans to replace lights in the gym, saying the lighting system was replaced more than eight years ago with a more efficient LED system.

We are also putting a new roof on as the gym leaks, Halleck said. The roof has been leaking and will be the first thing to be done as I dont have to shut anything down for that work to start.

The plan is to begin the interior gym project in August, after the community center ends a 10-week summer camp program. Halleck said the project must be completed within one to two months due to the centers scheduling commitments.

The center, at 13th Street and College Avenue, was constructed in 1970.

The center has not really been updated since we have been here, and we came in 2008, so it is time for a renovation, Halleck said.

Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter@TribStarHoward.

Originally posted here:
Terre Haute program gets $50000 from NBA for gym renovation - The Herald Bulletin