I have been taking pictures throughout the projects (the ones in the link above were not taken by me) but haven’t posted them – for the most part people could see through the doors what was going on.  But below are two pictures I took because they are a piece of history and can be considered Cathedral archaeology.  The stairwell at the Russell/Cedar Streets corner (the one by what was the Food Pantry entrance) was demolished as part of the remodeling, but a segment of stairs remained, now buried behind the wall of the storage area where the stage used to be.  Here are pictures of the stairs before they were sealed up:

You will have noticed that the seal is in place in the foyer.  There were rumblings about why there was a delay with this, and you know how stories can take on a life of their own.  The original seal was broken in transit and had to be sent back, so in the meantime the space was bare.  George K. – a true artist – came and put in the replacement when we received it:

Here is the last picture ever taken of the floor with the Grecian keys still in place.  The building project is awesome, but there is also a sad aspect – we will miss some of these things, but it is all for the best:

These are photos of the Cotsidas Auditorium abatement.  One of the main thrusts of this stage is, well, pushing back what was the stage area so there is more room.  The theory is that stages are used, in our case, five or ten times a year, so why not have portable stages that can be stored away, freeing up more room?  One irony in all this is that our architect did the Grecian frets design around the stage by hand when he was a 14 year old intern during  the original construction – this is bittersweet for him as well:

Check out these countertops – I want them for my kitchen!

And this is the ceiling of the foyer area, with a view from right outside the Tonna Room:

This is one of the upstairs classrooms.  You can see the duct work and new windows as well as the nice orange/rust color of the paint:

George K says the bathroom tile will be done today.  Here is an “action shot” of the tile being put in and finished:

Some wood that will soon be going up – Ray, the construction manager, said there is way more on the way:

Two sides of the stage in the Church Hall (what we are now calling the area below the Cathedral) – most of it is now a Greek School/Sunday School classroom, while a small part behind the curtain allows for the altar boys to cut the prosphora, etc.

Another view of the foyer area:

President – Maria Parafestas

VP – Georgia Varetas

Treasurer – Helena Kiritsy

Secretary – Kostas Karamanakis

Congratulations to them all.  Here are a few photos of construction – this is a view of what you would see if you came in the back entrance with the auditorium on the right and the the bathrooms and foyer ahead to the left:

And here is the preschool classroom all set up:

These pictures show the installation of smoke detectors in the church.  We need to have these since the church building is now also a school building.  Due to the way they work and the structure of the inside of the church they shouldn’t go off due to incense but we will see

This photo is from the upstairs classrooms in the auditorium and it shows the new ductwork being put in:

And here is a view of the entry to the foyer from the hall – check out the framed arch: