351 Update - March Manifest 2021

The winter storms of February slowed our progress on the steeple renovations. Even though it was nearing completion a month ago, the cold weather and repeated snowfalls kept our construction team from finishing the last details and removing the scaffolding. Once daytime temperatures rise to about 40 and stay there this work will wrap up, and we will be able to see for ourselves this first phase of the façade restoration. Not long after restoration work is completed on the steeple, the remainder of the restoration work on the south façade will also be completed, and the rest of the scaffolding will come down. Per DOB requirements, the sidewalk shed will remain in place to provide protection to pedestrians walking past the building. Once the scaffolding is removed we will be able to see all that has been done to clean and restore this nearly 140 year old historic neighborhood treasure.

March is also going to see sixty-seven new, energy efficient windows being installed. However, we may only catch glimpses of them as they are being installed. Since it is still a very active construction site once the windows have been installed they will be covered to prevent any inadvertent damage. Restoration work will also begin on the east, north, and west facades of the church. We have received all the necessary approvals from the Department of Buildings and our neighbors to erect scaffolding on their property and rooftops so as to access these portions of the building. This part of the project will be most visible as you walk west on 74^th street from First to Second Avenue.

Inside the building, the last of the foundation work is nearing completion and soon the concrete sub-contractor will pour the last of the cellar floor, the parish hall floor and the Nave floor. These are significant milestones in the project as it will now allow us to begin building out the space to create mechanical rooms, the parish hall, lobbies, bathrooms, classrooms and all the other spaces needed to enable the Church of the Epiphany to expand its ministry by adding more classrooms and a dedicated library for CEDS, a commercial kitchen that will feed hundreds of people every week through the Wednesday Night Dinner program and the Carter Burden Senior Lunch Program, a gymnasium and roof garden where the community can gather for special events and family celebrations. The list goes on and on. Every inch of the 35,000+ square feet being renovated will enhance every aspect of Epiphany’s life in ways that could never have been achieved at our current location.

Epiphany’s new home is beginning to take shape. With each passing month the parish draws ever closer to the realization of the dream God planted in this parish’s heart when it made the decision to leave behind the familiar and step into the future that God has prepared for us.

Faithfully yours,

Roy+