News

House Report Spring 2022

  • In the kitchen, we removed and hauled out the unrepairable double ovens and had the gas line capped;
  • In the Bride's Room, we recycled the out-of-date plastic table liners and clutter and organized linens to make room for easier access and additional storage;
  • We sorted contents and reorganized the stage closets to make room for new uses and sharing with Mosaic America, who is in residence for the next six months;
  • We replaced the broken accessible emergency fire exit door in the Tea Room with one that has better hardware. We then had it painted and re-fitted it with an alarm sensor appropriate for the heavy use anticipated;
  • The exhaust fan and hood over the range were cleaned professionally, something we should have been doing annually to comply with fire safety rules;
  • Similarly, all extinguishers and illuminated exit signs were checked, then improved as repairs by the Fire Inspector requested, in addition;
  • We hired a professional plumber to cleanse the sediment from the water heater;
  • Completed an emergency roof repair over the winter, and, lastly;
  • The chaise longe in the Bride's room bath was generously recovered by our own Sandy Swirsky.

On the technology side, I am pleased to announce that we invested in a system for hybrid programs. Our new camera, projector and audio components will make integrating live and virtual participants possible across programs and events. Thank you to Jim Sera and to Lyle Merithew for getting the system live in time for this month's Antiques program! Very exciting.

As House Manager, security and safety around the building are among my top areas of concern. Trespassing and encamping incidents at the clubhouse tend to come in waves and as the weather warms up by day and cools off in the evening, we've been experiencing a flurry of nightly visitors. While we report all incidents to Community Policing, we also continue to invest in deterrents ourselves. These improvements support the safety of our staff, members and clients, and are important for the integrity of operations.

For instance, Enrique, our part-time House Coordinator, who does morning perimeter checks of the building, recently spotted a damages to the wooden fence on the north side. We referred back to footage from security cameras, and saw that someone had climbed into the dumpster staging area and then exited by smashing down the north side wooden fence. That fencing -- the only segment of wooden plank fencing left on the north side -- will now be replaced with 6-foot high chain link and three rows of barbed wire so that it may be as effective in preventing trespassing and encamping as the new fencing along the back has been.

Finally, I want to mention that as part of our long term strategic planning, we will be obtaining a Historic Structure Report (HSR) on the building to assess its current condition (across systems). This report will help us itemize and prioritize work, so as we fundraise for HVAC upgrades we have a complete view of anticipated building requirements and their cost estimates. This process will be competitively bid out.

Thank you for reading and I am looking forward to seeing you all at Zona Rosa at the New Member Mixer May 18th! Get your tickets here!

Clorinda Sammis, House Manager, Board of Directors