By: Mark Fritsch, General Manager
This month’s topic is “Parking at a Premium”. We are into phase two of the Power Plant Re-purposing project. This phase includes the demolition of the old office building, construction of the crew locker area, completion of the meter shop, east and south entrances for customers and parking lot construction.
Our biggest concern is the lack of customer parking close to the building during the parking lot construction. We only have a few parking slots available next to the temporary entrance. Employees are currently parking away from the building to free up as much space as we can. This inconvenience for customers could take up to a couple weeks, depending on the weather. As a reminder, please feel free to call for service or use our web site as needed to avoid having to come in during this construction.
On the positive side, the new lot will have more spaces for customers and the convenience of two entrances. High efficiency LED lighting will add a new look, improve lighting and save energy costs. There will be employee parking underneath the new vehicle storage building that will free up additional customer parking spots in the lot, as well. The temporary east entrance to the building will be removed and a new entrance will be constructed after the south, handicap accessible entrance is in place. We realize the east entrance currently looks bad, but it is functional for the short duration it will be in use. We continue to receive recognition for the new look despite the complaints about the unsightly east entrance.
It’s such a pleasure hearing from customers as they come in for the first time. They love the new windows, and are overwhelmed with what we have done with the interior. A lot of people have had positive comments regarding how we kept the feel of a power plant, right down to the structural I-beams, old brick walls and floor grating. Some retired employees have a hard time picturing where the boilers and turbines were now that those locations have offices and customer service people working in them.
I appreciate your patience during this construction effort. We hope you will be very pleased with the finished building.