Evolution of an Idea
I enjoy being a part of the Renovations Team. And here’s why: The team is the right group of people with the right talents, brought together by God. It’s so fun to see how God uses everyone’s unique SHAPE to accomplish His purpose.
To see this in action, here’s what happened with the concrete repair at the Glenhurst entrance.
Idea 1
Our original idea was to simply destroy the three existing concrete sections outside the door and re-pour them with a very slight slope to remove the small step at the doors, thus eliminating the tripping hazard.
After floating the idea around, however, we heard feedback from some congregation members about the need for ramp access to the doors. The only wheelchair accessible point is down the drive near the kitchen. This is fine if you know it’s there because you just drop-off there instead of under the overhang. But for guests, it can be frustrating to get out of the car only to discover the ramp is 20 feet away. That led to:
Idea 2
Go with our original plan, but also include a ramp just inside the brick column. As we explored that, however, we felt it would crowd the entrance too much, not to mention detracting from the aesthetics of the entrance. That led to:
Idea 3
Move the ramp outside the brick column. A single straight ramp up with railings on both sides would be sufficient. Randy went to work and made the following picture of what that might look like:
Glenhurst Entrance Ramp (Artist Depiction)
We weren’t satisfied, however. That led to:
Idea 4
We have enough space to put three feet of flat concrete (enough for a future sidewalk) before hitting the first ramp to take you up 3.5″. This leads to a 5′ x 5′ landing, which is the required space for turning a wheelchair. A 90 degree turn right and you go up the final 2″ to the level of the doors.
This solution looks much the same as the picture above, but it allows us to get rid of the outside railing, which ultimately looks much cleaner. Here’s what the final plans look like:
Architect's Drawings for Glenhurst Entrance
Work will begin and end in early August.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:10 am
[...] tripping hazard. Demolition of existing concrete and walkways is almost complete and pouring the new entrance will commence shortly. The work is being done by Buffalo Sealing and Striping. Check it out: [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
[...] read about how we decided on a ramp into the church at the Glenhurst entrance over at the Evolution of an Idea post. At the time, we also posted a photoshopped image of what the entrance would look like. Well, [...]