By: Mark Fritsch, General Manager
This month’s topic is “The End Is Near”. No this isn’t about the end of the world, it’s about the Power Plant Re-purposing project completion. We only have a few more weeks of construction work left. By that time the new south entrance will be open and the east entrance temporary ramp access will be removed and a new access to Walnut Ave installed.
The canopy outside the south entrance looks very beefy and industrial; this is mostly due to the large steel columns that are designed to support a future solar array. The solar array will be a ten thousand watt, demonstration project to highlight and support renewable energy. When the sun is shining, the array will power all of the lights on the second floor of our building.
Once you walk through the south entrance, you will see many historical power plant artifacts, including boiler doors mounted on the wall and a turbine control panel. As you approach the customer service area you will be walking beneath one of the power plant cranes that was used to move equipment and performance maintenance activities. When seated at customer service, you will see a print design on the wall behind the customer service representative, that is a copy of several historical power plant boiler and equipment designs. This actual print was used for construction and maintenance purposes. We had it enlarged and attached to vinyl wallpaper.
The east entrance will include a stunning display of old power plant valve wheels attached to grating to create a canopy surrounding the entrance. The grating was used in the power plant as walkways. You will see this grating re-purposed throughout our whole facility.
The main lobby is part of a large atrium from which you can see several floors up. The second floor holds most of our administration, engineering, and control systems. The third floor is vacant and was designed to be used for future expansion. With energy efficient windows, heating/cooling, insulated walls and led lighting we expect our energy costs to be less than before. We are very excited to show the facility to you and plan to have an open house.
