This update, from trustee Stephen Kelley, is also in the July 2015 CONNECTIONS newsletter. Below is an excerpt. 

By the end of June we should have completed all nine geothermal wells located in the north lawn, each reaching down 500 feet into the earth. Cycling the fluids from our heating and cooling plant deep into the earth will cool them in the summer and warm them in the winter. It is that simple, sustainable and kind to the environment.

Behind the plastic envelope that encloses the Temple shell are workers who are hammering away at the concrete surface of the sanctuary parapets and chimney. These will be completely refaced. As concrete is “wet work,” it has to be done before it gets too cold in the fall. Freezing concrete before it is set will damage the work.

Just about all of the art glass has been removed from the Sanctuary and Unity House and is being sent to California for restoration. Soon the light fixtures along with the skylights in the Sanctuary and Unity House will be removed for conservation as well.

We still have a lot of issues to discuss and we meet each Friday in the construction trailer to the east of Unity Temple. These meetings are intensive, and are joined by different consultants and stakeholders, both in person and over the phone.

Many, but not all, of the design issues have been resolved. Issues that are still being negotiated (at the time of this writing) are disability access, and the layouts in the minister’s office. So far, everyone has pulled together to work through these issues and we have no reason to believe that this open collaboration will not continue. I am sure that we will [encounter] further challenges to resolve in the next months.

Please check this blog for more updates. The Communications team will be sharing more in-depth stories with you about some of these individual projects and items Stephen’s discussed here, and will feature interviews with some of the people who are working on our home for us!