Brian James here, first contact on this blog.
It's been four months since I left my village in Massachusetts and arrived here in Wappingers Falls, NY on site for what will be the new Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. I was hired by Alex and Allyson Grey and the Foundation for the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors to manage the property and to begin renovations on several of the existing structures.
The new site for CoSM is located in Dutchess County, NY. The property is a fifteen minute walk to the Hudson River and the train into the city. The property had been used formerly by the United Church of Christ as a religious retreat center and even featured a Chapel. After that the site was used as an interfaith conference center. Most of the books that were left on the shelves in the boarding house fall into the genre of metaphysics, philosophy or psychology. Some are familiar like “Be Here Now” and curious others include “How to see Auras” and “Expanding Your Energy Field.”
It would seem that the lands former usage is present with our current intentions. This is of little surprise to me. I've never worked with an organization where synchronous occurrences have been more prevalent. When two events occur simultaneously pertaining to the same object of inquiry we must pay strict attention!
There are seven buildings on the land and a few mysterious ruins. At the heart of the property the hill side is landscaped. It steps up into four manicured plateaus each connected to the next by a large concrete staircase. There are four staircases in all. They align with one another and rise up to where there was once a chapel. A small monument stands holding the chapel's bell; still in operable condition. In our minds we visualize and in our hearts we hope that these steps will some day lead up to the new Chapel of Sacred Mirrors.
Forgive the technical details, but a lot has happened in a short amount of time that I've been here. I'll try to catch you up to date on our progress and hit you with the magic later.
CoSM's initial closing date on the property had originally been set for July, but was then pushed off until mid September. I took another job while waiting and got tied up renovating 200 year old Baptist church in Western Massachusetts. I didn't arrive on site until the second week of October. With winter coming and the former CoSM in Manhattan closing, it was important to hit the ground running.
As you all know we closed the doors on our Manhattan location in January. It will be a while before the designs and permits to build the new Exhibition space are approved. While waiting for the go ahead and working on the plans we are renovating four other buildings on the land to serve the different departments of CoSM. Our goal is to keep Alex and Allyson painting and keep the offices and shipping departments operational after CoSM Chelsea is closed. Having these buildings functional will allow us to generate revenue while the new gallery is being built.
Three of these buildings here are raised ranches, one of which has already been converted into our new office and shipping facility. We'll be converting a second ranch into a new teaching facility where Alex, Allyson and some of our staff will teach drawing, sacred geometry, painting, dance and other art forms. Renovation has also begun on a large raised cottage. This building will house CoSM Studios. The two largest buildings on site are an old carriage house and a mansion that was the retreat Guest house. The aging mansion is being renovated to house retreatants and staff and to serve our dining needs. The carriage house is the building that we'll be converting into the gallery to exhibit the Sacred Mirrors collection. That gallery space will also feature a TOOL shrine. You can help us build that one by making a special donation and having your name listed in the space.
When I first arrived all but one of the structures didn't have heat. I had to shower in one building, cook on another and sleep in a third. For the first two weeks I was here myself. I made camp in a large living room in one of the ranch houses. I shared the room with my tools and Mr. Stevens, my cat. At the time it was the only house that had heat. I immediately started converting one of the split level ranch houses into our new office and shipping departments. I felt like I'd left Kansas, landed in OZ and immediately been hired to build the Emerald City. “Where's the hardware store in OZ?” I thought, as listed the properties immediate needs.
Being close to a river, the soil of the new COSM campus has a high clay content. This means that it takes longer for the land to dry out and increases the likelihood that a concrete foundation will wick in water during rain storms. In the case of the Office there was a leak in the foundation and another leak where a deck had been connected to the house. Water had been flowing off the deck during rain storms and pouring into the house. The water was pouring down the walls and into the basement causing the wood to rot and off-gassing of the rotten wood was creating a termite problem.
Rotten framing in the office
When dealing with water damage in a wooden structure that has been left unattended you have to first stop the damage from occurring and then remove the rotten wood. The office and shipping departments would be housing a lot of books, T-shirts and other moisture sensitive merchandise. It was important that the building be water-tight.
The drywall and framing in the entire basement had rotted and mold had made it's way into the walls. The section of the second floor on the south east corner was rotten all the way through where the rain had come in off the deck and poured into the house. Everything in the basement had to be demolished and rebuilt, as well as a large section of the second floor.
The crew was thin at the time. myself, Mr Stevens and Architect Al Cappelli. I built a temporary wall in the basement to support the second floor and one to support the deck so that it could be moved away from the house. This allowed me amputate the rotten corner of the building while maintaining it's structure.
amputating wall and floor in office
amputated section restored
Soon reinforcements arrived. My friend Pappion, the mighty Peaches, and KBL construction corp. After excavating a small section of land near the foundation we discovered that the building didn't have drainage. We had to dig a drainage trench below the foundation and around the entire building, fill it with stone and then add drainage pipe and a secondary pipe system to divert water coming from the rain gutters. In addition to that we put a sealer on the concrete before we could fill the trench.
What we all thought would be a small patch job had become a full-scale commercial renovation.
Originally we thought we would do all of the work with volunteers and on a small budget, but the scope of work soon expanded to the point where we needed to hire outside help. Our architect, Al referred us to a friend of his, Kevin Lund. Kevin is a well known local contractor who has built everything from shopping malls and restaurants to dozens of homes in the area. We hired him and his oldest son Justin to assist us with our project.
Kevin is an artist with a backhoe and bulldozer. It has been amazing to see how quick and how precise he can work the land with heavy machinery. Both he and his son Justin have been consistently enthusiastic about our project and have been a great deal of help in all directions. Justin told me that his father would scratch your back with a back hoe if you let him
Once we opened the ground up we decided to put the electrical and cable lines that were feeding the building under ground. It rained and snowed for weeks during this process.
drainage trench and pipe system
Kevin, Jose and Victor of KBL Construction working in mechanical trench during snow storm
The building process is contra-lateral. You have to build forward while thinking backwards from a finished point, each phase is contingent upon the next. It's important to have all of your decisions made before you start closing up walls and moving to the finish phase.
After stopping the damage we had to figure out what our needs were for the new space. The office was didn't have any data lines or a working phone system and the electrical panel needed to be changed as well. We had to run new IT, alarm, and electrical lines on both floors. We also had to bring the building up to code and replace the heating system. Alex and Allyson, despite a busy travel schedule, were very present during the planning process and very attentive to the properties other needs.
When converting a residential building into commercial building you are required to meet the standards of the commercial code. Building codes separate the commercial and residential use of a building. The differences between the two are many; from sprinklers systems, elevators, bathroom sizes, stair widths and the number of exits, you may have to change a variety of things to get a commercial certificate of occupancy.
On top of code requirements there were many concerns with respect to the usage of space and energy efficiency. We had the intention at the beginning of the project to build as green as we could afford. At the end of the office and shipping renovation two thirds of the building had been completely rebuilt.
We widened the walls of the building to increase the amount of insulation and added foam insulation to the outside before re-siding it. Each of these decisions greatly impacted the buildings heating and cooling efficiency.
Increasing efficiency with wider walls and insulation
We converted the garage in the downstairs of the office into a shipping and storage facility. We redistributed the load of the building and changed the framing to make greater use of the space and re-roofed it to improve the aesthetics. What was once a home is now a commercial facility.
Office March 2009
In addition to the office building there were several other areas of the property that needed immediate attention. There were mountains of garbage that had collected in various buildings and become hotels for vermin, there were damaged boilers in the main house, fallen trees and power outages. I even had to extinguish a large fire in the basement. With colder weather coming it was important to get the boilers running or replaced; otherwise freezing could cause pipes to break all over the house and that could lead to extensive water damage. Roofs were leaking water and we had begun leaking money. As a non-profit organization this concerned us a great deal.
Despite all concerns, I've been tickled throughout this process to see successful artists like Alex and Allyson taking a leap of faith back to the beginning of the artist’s journey. In service of their vision, they've taken all the security that they've gained through their successes and thrown it back into the cosmic kitty with no predictable return.
“So below, so above, so beyond I imagined, drawn out beyond the lines of reason, push the envelope watch it bend.”-TOOL.
Four months after my arrival I find myself sad about the closing of the old chapel, but charged and excited about what we are creating at the new location. The office and shipping facility is complete and we have begun work on COSM Studios and on the Guest house. We're not sure how we're going to afford it of if we can, but everyday we move forward with faith. We've made alliances with local contractors and subcontractors and we have volunteers as well. There is still so much to do.
The days are long here, but rewarding. We are all artists pursuing the same intention. Our separate visions have brought us together in service of Alex and Allyson's vision. Our work has become prayer.
Volunteers are showing up who come enthusiastic and connected to the process. There are always curve balls during the work week and tasks that appear outside of our objectives, but there are many small treasures and signs that energize one through out the day. For me it's the little things; like setting up my radial saw table as the sun rises to the music of “Third Eye” from Tool's Salival, ten miles away from what was once Timothy Leary's Millbrook estate. I get excited when Alex starts drawing on blue prints and when Allyson exclaims a sense of Duja Vey (having a sense you will remember this in the future...)
We have a long way to go. Much of the initial work here is monotonous or dirty and often both. We like to think of these tasks as mantras. Please come pray with us.
Love and light
Brian J
