Day One Hundred Twenty -- One More Thing

It's been a long time since our last update. A number of pressing matters haven't allowed me the time to report. Now, with a brief breather, let's get up to date.The interior of our building, both the new addition and the remodeled portions of the existing structure, are now essentially complete. Most, if not all, of the county inspections have been made. The only thing preventing us from getting an occupancy permit is a matter outside the building.

Our tank has arrived and is awaiting burial.

It appears that one other step was required before beginning the dig.Earlier this week, a company sunk a number of PVC pipes into the ground around the outside of the dig site. They attached these pipes to a larger one which was, in turn, attached to an engine-driven pump. Apparently our sandy soil coupled with the fact that this is the rainy season in southwest Florida, requires that the digging area be as dry as possible to prevent collapse of the sides or filling of the hole with water.
The pump has been running since yesterday and, although you can't see the motion in this still photo, water is still passing through these translucent couplers.

Once this tank is installed and connected, we should be able to get our final clearance to begin to use our new facility. We still have a long way to go to get it furnished and equipped the way it should be, but the completion of the structure is a very good reason for us to express our gratitude to God and to our supporters.

Day Eighty Eight -- Closer Still

Eighty Eight working days into this studio construction project, we're seeing the end in sight.

The contractor's portion of the studio itself is almost complete. The wall behind the ladder used to be the front of our old building, so it needed to be patched where they removed our old front door. All of the studio walls have been painted "CBS Gray". If seen on television, the walls will appear to be white, but will not reflect back into the camera more light than it can handle. A pipe grid from which to hang our studio lights, and a curtain track and curtains will be installed either by us or by a lighting system contractor. The concrete floor needs to be cleaned and sealed, and the studio should be ready for those final touches.

This is a close up of one of the special air conditioning ducts used in the studio. There are three long fabric "tubes" which are perforated along their lengths. The cool air from the A/C units inflates these ducts and "oozes" out the perforations to drop gently to the studio floor. This provides more even distribution and, more importantly, very quiet operation.

Here is our new reception area as viewed from the new front door. As you can see, ceiling tiles have been installed, and all that remains is floor covering to complete this area. The opening in the background leads into our old building, part of which is being remodeled as a part of this project.

Here in one of the remodeled offices in the old building lies the ends of the computer network and telephone cables which have been pulled into the new offices and control rooms. This entire bundle will be pulled over the suspended ceiling in the old building into the transmitter room where all of the telephone and computer terminal equipment is located.

As a part of the remodeling of the old building, the wall between two of our former edit rooms has been removed to make a larger room which will be used as a kitchen, break room, conference room combination.

This photograph, taken yesterday, shows the forms being placed for the sidewalks. Early this morning, the sidewalks were poured and the forms removed.

It won't be long now!

Day Eighty -- The Home Stretch

There were a couple of days of virtually no activity on the new building after our last post, but the pace has now picked up considerably.

As you can see from this latest photo of our new reception area, the drywall has been finished, the first coat of paint applied, and the grid work for the suspended ceiling has been installed. The same is true for the General Manager's office, the Studio Control Room, and the Audio Room. We have the first half of next week to pull our video, telephone, and computer network cables before they are scheduled to drop in the ceiling panels. It would be possible, but much less convenient to do it after the panels have been placed.

Yesterday, a crew installed a black, "blown-on" cellulose material on the ceiling of the TV studio. It serves as both thermal insulation and as an acoustical treatment. As you can imagine, it was quite a messy job. The workers had to wear plastic suits and wear face masks as the entire room was filled with a black haze as they were working. The plastic that protected the walls and floor have been taken up, and the paint crew is priming the studio walls.

Elsewhere, the four rooftop air conditioning units were mounted in place yesterday, and they've had their electrical connections made. They won't be started up until all of the duct work is completed. Our security company is pulling wires to all of the locations for door switches, motion detectors, and surveillance cameras.

One as yet unresolved issue relates to the required fire protection water tank. We must have a tank holding at least 10,000 gallons of water on site before the fire inspector will allow us to have an occupancy permit. There was supposedly a 6000 gallon underground tank already in place, so the initial plan was to install a 4000 gallon auxiliary tank in order to meet the requirement. However there were some serious questions about the functionality of the existing system, so the fire inspector requested that it be uncovered for examination. When we started digging, we uncovered not one, but four tanks, the sum total of which was apparently the earlier-required 6000 gallons. The problem was that the tanks were apparently not vented and perhaps not appropriately interconnected. An inspection scheduled for Monday should show whether it would be financially feasible to make the existing system operational before adding to it or whether putting in an entirely new 10,000 gallon system would be a better investment.

The excitement around here is mounting. We're just a few weeks away from realizing a dream that was born almost five years ago.

Day Sixty Nine -- The Pace Accelerates

Progress since our last post has been slow but steady, but the pace has picked up considerably in the last few days. With the exception of sidewalks and landscaping, the outside appearance of the building is pretty much complete. The downspouts have been added as well as the security lights.

Inside we find most of the drywall has been hung. This view shows the new reception area from the front door position. The opening links this area with the existing building.

The opening from our old front door is now in the corner of the studio, so it is being blocked in today.


The greatest part of the electrical wiring has been completed, and the electricians are now preparing the step-down transformer which will convert our 480 volt electrical service to the 110-220 volt service which will power the new addition. Tomorrow or early next week we will have to turn off the incoming power to permit them to connect the transformer. This will require us to power down both of our transmitters as well as all the control room equipment. This will, of course, take us off the air for an hour or so. Since virtually every piece of equipment has a computer in it or controlling it, it will be quite a task to shut down everything in an orderly fashion, and then to re-boot the entire station, one piece at a time.

There are still some decisions that must be made regarding increasing the size of a water tank needed for fire protection which will be required before we can get an occupancy permit. Other than that, it appears that we will have smooth sailing toward completion.

Day Fifty Six -- Back Outside

What a difference a coat of paint makes! Our new studio addition now matches our existing building after having been painted over the weekend. Roofers are at work today trimming out the top of the block walls and preparing the downspouts for water drainage. Things are quiet inside today.

Day Fifty Three -- Internal Progress

We're now at day fifty three (work days) of the studio construction project. The exterior of the building is almost complete except for painting, and the work continues on the interior.

There is now drywall on one face of each of our interior walls. After a county inspection, insulation will be added. Another inspection will preceed the installation of the remainder of the drywall and its finishing.

Dr. Destructo has arrived on the scene, and has punched through the exterior wall where our front window used to be in preparation for making a passageway from our new reception area into the existing building.

Just inside the former window, the old reception area has been demolished to make way for a new office and a new storeroom. The walls for those will be framed tomorrow. We've had to move our major filing and storage cabinets into the hallway to clear out this area, so our already crowded facility is feeling an additional squeeze. The next few weeks will probably be the most challenging and inconvenient for the staff to endure. This, too, shall pass.

I met yesterday with a lighting consultant about a proposal to equip the studio with curtain tracks, curtains, light fixtures, dimmers, and a controller. Installation of these items will make the studio functional with our existing equipment once the basic construction is completed. We're already drawing up specifications for the high-definition cameras, switcher, and other equipment, but we may need a short financial breather before we equip the studio to operate at its full potential.

Day Forty Two through Forty Four -- Sharathon 2008

Tuesday through Thursday of last week, we held our first major, local Sharathon for the purpose of raising funds to complete the construction of our new studio addition. The total cost of the building is slightly over $700,000. We had raised almost $40,000 prior to the Sharathon, and God helped us to raise $25,000 additional during the three day event. We obviously still have a long way to go, but the words of support and encouragement we received from those who became partners with us provided a great boost to our faith.

During the Sharathon we raised up the vision for more relevant local Christian programming which the studio will make possible. It will also provide another means of generating revenue by allowing us to produce commercials and programs for outside businesses and ministries. Finally, and also of great importance, is to provide a facility for Global Vision Video Institute. We feel called to provide training in video production to the next generation of communicators of the Gospel. This facility, when fully equipped, will provide state-of-the-art equipment to serve as a laboratory in which to study the art and practice of visual communication.

Doing three nights of studio production without a completed studio proved to be a bit of a challenge, but one that our ministry family tackled with great enthusiasm. The studio space was under roof with metal studs in place but no drywall installed. We had the electricians provide some temporary power and we hung five studio light fixtures directly from the roof trusses. Our three portable cameras were set up on tripods and we were ready for three nights of adventure.

Pastor John Antonucci from Faith Fellowship was one of several local pastors who ministered to our viewers and encouraged their participation by prayer and financial support.

Our makeshift control room, manned by director Rick Moreno, was powered by a remarkable device known as a Tri-Caster. It is the small square box with cables connected to it sitting on top of the speaker. It weighs five pounds and contains all the functions that a room full of equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars would have provided just a few years ago. One of Rick's favorite sayings, "Teamwork makes the dream work!" was very evident as all of our staff united to make this effort a success. Since the Sharathon, a lot of construction activity has resumed, and our next blog post will show you what is taking place now.

Day Forty One -- Stucco

Today, we're seeing activity both inside and outside of the studio building. Inside, electricians are installing outlets in the roof trusses to facilitate some light fixtures for our Sharathon which begins tomorrow night. Outside, workers are applying stucco to the exterior walls, covering up the exposed concrete blocks.

Day Forty -- The Walls Go Up

I was out of town Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at a national broadcasting convention so our reporting got a little behind. Since our last report, more work has been done on the roof, the air conditioning situation has been resolved, and framing has begun on the interior walls. This view is from the storage area, looking through the studio toward the framing of the walls for the control room. We will be originating our Sharathon next week (Tuesday through Thursday, April 22 through 24, 6-11:30 pm) from the shell of our new studio to show our progress and highlight the work that remains.

Day Thirty Three -- Under Roof (pretty much)

Last Friday, the steelworkers finished about dusk. During the day they had assembled the Erector Set consisting of support posts, roof trusses, and the metal decking which will support the actual roofing material. The finishing of the roof is awaiting a final decision on air conditioning for the studio. There is some ongoing discussion as to whether two or three units will be required to cool the studio space. The units will be mounted on the roof, and piers and openings will have to be made to allow the cooled air to reach the studio. Their locations will be dependent on the final decision of two or three units, so the finishing of the roof is currently on hold.

Our constructed superintendent has told us that this should not hold up the beginning of framing of the interior walls. The two interior studio walls will be concrete block, and the office and control room walls will be conventional studs and drywall.

This morning is quiet on site, while the air conditioning discussions continue off site. We'll continue our report when the activity resumes.

Day Thirty -- Back in Action

It's been a long, relatively quiet period since we last posted. During that time, the tie-beams atop the exterior block walls were poured, and a new, required septic system was installed behind the building. Other than that, there was little visible progress.

That all changed this morning with the delivery and erection of the structural steel which will support the roof. As of 3:00 pm today, that process was virtually complete. The next step will be the roof decking and actual roofing material. That should happen early next week, and, after the addition of the exterior windows and doors, the building interior will be protected from the elements paving the way for work on the interior walls.

Day Eignteen -- All's Quiet

There's a break in the action. Forms are sitting atop the exterior walls awaiting the pouring of concrete for the tie beams. An engineering change in the structural steel was necessary to insure adequate ceiling height in the studio. The change had to be submitted to Charlotte County officials before they would return to the site for necessary inspections before the project could continue. The changes were hand-carried to Charlotte County yesterday, so progress may resume soon.

We'll keep you posted.

Day Fourteen -- The Pace Slows

The hectic pace of construction has slowed considerably since Tuesday morning. There were just a few workers here yesterday. After another inspection, they filled the cavities of the exterior block walls with concrete for strength and insulation. Today, they are making forms atop the walls. These, when filled with concrete, will provide the support for the roof trusses.

Once this is complete, we are still anticipating a delay in the arrival of the structural steel. As a result, the process may grind to a halt for a period of time. We'll resume our commentary when the action picks up again, and provide pictures when there is something new to see.

We've already begun to make preparations for our local telethon which will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, April 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. We have some exciting guests lined up, and during those telecasts we will present the vision for the future of Christian television for Southwest Florida and for Vision Video Institute International, our intensive training program designed to prepare visual communicators for the 21st century.

These are exciting times for the WRXY family, and we'd like you to be a part. Keep reading this blog, checking our our websites (www.wrxytv.com and www.thevisionwrxy.com), and watching WRXY on your TV or on your computer through live streaming. There's lots more to come!

Day Twelve -- The Walls ARE Up

The block layers were busy at work when I arrived this morning. By noon, they were finished and cleaned up. The exterior walls are essentially complete, and now we are awaiting the structural steel.

There will be three support posts and a cross beam to support the steel roof trusses which will extend from that beam to the east and west block walls which will support the ends of these trusses. After that, the roof decking and roofing material will close in the building. We've been told to expect a delay of up to a week and a half in the delivery of the steel. This delay is the result of the tremendous progress that has been made in just over two weeks. As a result, the building is almost two weeks ahead of schedule.

The base coat of pavement for our new parking lot is being applied today. There will be a lot of heavy equipment on site before the project is complete, so the final coat and striping will wait until the very end.

Day Eleven -- The Walls Go Up

This morning marks the beginning of day eleven -- just two weeks from starting with nothing. The exterior walls are more than halfway to the top and continuing to rise rapidly.

The current construction slump in southwest Florida has enabled the contractor to find workers available immediately. We'll be discussing some minor changes in roof structure with the project manager later today. So far the construction has caused only minor inconveniences to our staff, and, other than the satellite dish incident during week one, no technical problems.

Sod has already been placed around the edge of our new expanded parking area.

Our workers are taking it up to the next level.

Day Ten -- Concrete Block

Yesterday's wet cement has become today's concrete floor. This morning, it's crowded with workers laying the concrete block for the outside walls.



God has blessed us with a crew of friendly and highly skilled workers to build this studio.

As the walls go up, work continues on a new parking lot adjacent to the building.

Great weather, God's blessings, and an aggressive superintendent have placed our progress well ahead of the original timeline. We're hoping to originate our local telethon from the new studio on April 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, even if the building is not completely finished. Of course it will take some time and additional funding to actually purchase and install the final, high-definition equipment, but it will be provide a big boost to be able to broadcast from the new space, even with our existing equipment. We'll tell you more in the near future.

Day Nine - Liquid Rock

This morning, only nine days into actual construction, the floor for our studio addition is being poured. I shot some video of the process with our new high-definition camcorder.

The concrete from the trucks was pumped into through pipes in a tall boom device to be placed exactly where it was needed.

The finishing of the concrete floor is especially critical in the area which will become the studio. It must be as level and smooth as possible to facilitate movement of the cameras.

Day Seven - The floor is next

Here we are, only seven working days into the studio construction project, and we find the footers and foundation already prepared. Following a county inspection, the floor slab will be poured. That is currently scheduled for Thursday, but it could be delayed if some rain which is predicted for the next few days materializes. So far, everything has gone much more rapidly than I had expected. Perhaps the building will finished by the first of June as the superintendent predicted. Today we signed our approval on some mundane things like doors and door hardware, windows, and the mail drop that will be used for programmers to drop off their videotapes after hours.

On another note, we got our first high-definition camera today. One of our venerable, ten-year-old Canon XL-1 cameras recently decided that it didn't want to record to tape anymore. We replaced it with a JVC GY-HD200 Camcorder. We're planning to use three of its big brothers (Model 250) in our studio when it is completed.

Day Six - Swarms of Workers

Last Friday I didn't even get to the station because of an all-day shoot of the Power 08 Conference at Pelican Preserve, and a lot happened on that day. Concrete trucks poured footers for the foundation and for support beams. When I arrived this morning, the site was swarming with activity.

Foundation blocks were being laid in preparation for the pouring of the slab for the floor. This is scheduled to happen on Wednesday or Thursday, weather permitting. Until then, getting in and out of the building is an exercise in gymnastics.

Our main door is blocked because of the fact that directly outside is a large hole with a footer for a main support beam. We must enter and exit through the transmitter room, but not without either walking the plank or stepping through a depressed area onto the foundation footer. We're promised that most of these problems will be behind us once the slab is poured.

We're very concerned about the quality of the pour and finish of the concrete slab which will provide the floor for the studio. At about 35x50 feet, it will require expansion joints. These can create major problems when dollying cameras over them. We're trying to get them located toward the edges where there won't be much camera movement. The construction foreman says the joints (or saw cuts) can be filled with epoxy to smooth them out. Of course the final finish on the floor must be very smooth and level, again to facilitate smooth camera movement. Once that is finished to our satisfaction, the rest of the building won't be quite as critical.

There shoud be more to report later today or tomorrow.

Footer and Foundation Digging

Today the digging continues. The holes for pouring the footers for supports in the center of the building are being dug -- mostly by hand. One of the holes is directly in front of the main entrance to our existing building, so we are having to route visitors and delivery persons to the door to the transmitter room, and then in through master control to the reception area.

We're very grateful that we haven't had some of the rain which was predicted for yesterday. Getting in and out of the building would have been a muddy mess with any rain at all.

The trenches for the foundation are also being dug, as well as the continuation of the trenches for drainage pipes. They had to cut across our driveway today, so vehicles had to detour across open field to get to our parking lot.

I'll try to post more pictures at the beginning of next week. I'm certain that they will show some major changes.

By the way, don't click on the comment attached to yesterday's post. It is nothing but a deceptive advertisement for some supposed virus and malware software. I haven't figured out how to delete it yet.

More progress and a repair

Yesterday, the site was surveyed and the precise location of the building footers and walls was marked. Today, trenches for drainage pipe are being dug. We can now get a slightly better sense of how large the studio itself will be. Certainly it will be a far cry from the 9' x 9' room we are currently using -- and sharing with the videotape library.

We just finished getting our CTN satellite pickup functioning. We originally thought that the LNB (a small amplifier and downconverter) had failed during the intense vibrations by the equipment which was compacting the fill dirt which had been placed to level the area where the building addition will be erected. It turns out that the vibration had apparently moved the dish slightly off its precise position, causing it to lose the signal. A careful realignment with a spectrum analyzer restored the signal.

The construction superintendent predicted that the building could be complete in 90 days. That seems almost too good to be true, so I'm taking the conservative view. It does seem to indicate that we could make our predicted schedule of holding our first Vision Video Institute classes in the facility in September. The excitement continues. Keep checking for our next update.

Oops

A lot was accomplished by the site crew yesterday, but not without at least one "uh oh". A lot of fill dirt was hauled in to level the foundation area of our new studio building. A roller was used to compact the soil, and it was also equipped with a vibrator to help in the compacting process. Our entire building shook rather violently most of the day yesterday. At just a few minutes before 4:00 pm, we lost our satellite feed from Christian Television Network headquarters. I first thought that since the dish was located so close to the construction area a piece of equipment had probably bumped the dish out of alignment.

A few tests indicated that the more probable cause was that the vibration had caused a sensitive amplifier located on the dish to fail. We've ordered a replacement to be overnighted to us, so once it arrives we should have the problem corrected in short order.

I wouldn't be surprised that this might not be the only "uh oh" we'll encounter during the months of construction. Of course, you try to anticipate as many as you can, but there are always a few surprises.

This evening we shoot a local real estate presentation called Market Watch to feature on one of our local programs called Marketplace Wisdom. We will be moving three cameras and assorted equipment to Harborside Event Center to set up this afternoon. The routine work must go on even during construction, of course.

We're Really Underway Now !!!!

After over three years of planning, negotiations, and governmental interaction (I've been involved in almost two years of those), as I arrived at work this morning, I was greeted with the sight a backhoe and grader already at work. Our studio construction project is finally underway. It will be mostly site work this week, but seeing dirt being moved brings a great deal of excitement to our staff. If you'd like to see more pictures, just go to our site http://www.thevisionwrxy.com/ and click on the "watch our progress" menu button.

We continue to work on the curriculum and promotional items for Vision Video Institute. We now have the preliminary outline of content for our twenty days of instruction. Now comes the more involved part of outlining each day, hour by hour, and collecting instructional materials to supplement the personal, live instruction.

Preliminary interest in Vision Video Institute has been very encouraging. We feel that we have the potential to draw students from the southeastern region of the United States, and eventually from the entire country. One of the Christian Television Network executives has a vision to translate the instruction into other languages and welcome students from all over the world. There appears to be a real need for instruction in video production, especially for Christian outreach worldwide.

Now that the studio construction has started, we're feeling the momentum in moving toward fulfilling the vision.

Keep checking back -- the updates will be coming more frequently now!

A busy week

This coming week promises to be both busy and exciting. Monday, our contractor, J. L. Wallace, Inc., will be moving in equipment and start clearing the area around our construction site. By mid-week, the area will start to look quite different. We've done some preliminary work on relocating the cables from our five satellite dishes into our existing master control room -- the current path runs directly under the location of our new building addition. We were slowed down somewhat by the rains last week as well as the challenge of poking a two inch hole in a concrete and cinder block wall over a foot thick. Some special equipment will be here also on Monday to help us get that accomplished.

On Tuesday, we are scheduled to cut over to a completely new telephone and computer network system. When fully functional it will provide high speed interconnections between WRXY and other CTN network stations that will enable transfer of television programs in a digital format between stations. Eventually all twelve CTN station's telephone systems will be connected through this same network. It should cut long distance telephone charges considerably and permit easier, quicker communications between affiliates.

I'm also spending considerable time in formulating a curriculum overview and course outline for our four-week Vision Video Institute which we are hoping to launch in September. It will be an intensive training program in visual communications with an emphasis on video production with a maximum enrollment of ten students in each session. We're hoping to be able to schedule six sessions each year on alternate months.

Vision Video Institute will soon have its own website from which you can track our progress on this project.

Lisa Yeargin has put up a short video montage of shots from our groundbreaking ceremony on our main station website, http://www.wrxytv.com/, so you might want to check that out. It was an exciting day with over 100 persons in attendance.

I'll be posting some pictures and construction updates on this blog just as soon as there is something interesting to photograph. Stay with us.

Step One

Now we begin with the countless details that must be attended to prior to and during construction. It turns out that all of the cabling between our existing master control room and our five satellite dishes runs underground directly where our new studio will be located. As a result, before the major for the footers, foundation, and slab begins, all of those cables must be relocated. We're planning to run them on "ladder" wiring trays high (10 to 12 feet) above ground from the dishes into the side of our existing building. We need to support the wiring trays on posts which must be placed in concrete in order to provide the necessary support and stability. Before we can dig the holes for the support posts, we need to have all of the underground utilities spotted and identified so we don't have any "uh-ohs" such as water line breaks or electrocutions.

We're now underway

Welcome to this new blog. Blogging seemed to be a good way of helping anyone interested to learn about the progress of a very special project.

After more than 2 years of planning and waiting, our anticipated project is now underway. For many months before I arrived in Southwest Florida, WRXY-TV General Manager Paul Lodato, along with Paul Garber and other officials of the Christian Television Network had been planning for the construction of a television production studio for the station. That effort culminated on Thursday, January 31st, shortly after noon, when a groundbreaking ceremony attended by more than 100 area pastors, programmers, CTN officials, and supporters of the station. Spirits were high and the weather was perfect as prayers of dedication were offered and the shovels broke the ground.




The timing of one event proved to be too significant to be coincidental. After more than two years of working with county government in the multitude of permits needed, the final approval of the actual building permit was announced on the very morning of our groundbreaking. We feel and have felt God's presence and provisions up to this point, and we will certainly need his miraculous involvement during the construction and to provide the approximately $1.5 million to construct and equip the facility.

Another exciting plan is for the development of "Vision Video Institute", an intensive training program in the area of visual communication with special emphasis on video production and distribution. We'll have much more to say about this on future posts.


Steve