Renovations
Pardon our dust, we’re sprucing up!
We are very excited to share with everyone the progress that we are making on the Solel rejuvenation project. The construction started at the end of September and has been progressing steadily over the last several months as the entire front entrance, lobby area and washrooms were completely stripped down and rebuilt. As we have previously shared, our focus for the phase 1 of the renovation, has been on the front entrance, lobby and washrooms with the hopes that over time, and with community support, we will continue our efforts to rejuvenate and refresh other areas of the building including the offices, library, sanctuary, social hall, kitchen and youth lounge.
To date the tile floors have been installed in the main washroom and the accessible washroom and the washroom fixtures, doors and hardware will be installed starting the week of November 30th. Our new coat room along with our new gathering areas in the front lobby are ready for the final finishes. All of the walls have been primed and are ready for paint. Our Memorial Wall Cabinets are being refinished and will be rehung in the next couple of weeks and our Czech Torah Cabinet has been moved to a more prominent location in the front lobby. The carpets will be installed as the last phase of the project, along with the new protective glazing for the windows. We are tracking fairly closely to our original timelines and we are anticipating that the construction will be completed by the end of December.
It is tremendously exciting to see the new and refreshed Solel starting to come to life. We cannot wait until we will be able to welcome everyone back into the building, not only to see our beautiful new space, but to see each other and to gather as a community once again.
Over the coming weeks we will continue to post pictures of the space. Check out the online gallery above for some sneak peeks at how things are coming along. We’ll add more photos as the project progresses.
In conjunction with this initiative, unfortunately, after many years, we find ourselves having to also replace our HVAC units. Two of our three units are no longer working, and the third unit is just hanging on. We will be replacing the units as quickly as possible and will be working with the contractor to ensure adequate heat is available in the building to keep the Rabbi and Joel warm as they continue to support our wonderful services every week and to keep the water pipes from freezing.
We want to thank everyone who has generously donated to this project and we look forward to continuing our refresh as we are able to.
Renovation Co-Chairs,
Robbin Botnick and John Lewsen
