Hurricane Damage Construction Update

Dear Families,

First of all, I would like to apologize for not being in communication with you before now regarding the progress of the repairs to the Krishna Bhakti Bhavan classroom and office building. My new full-time teaching responsibilities this year have significantly impacted my available time and energy. Although my additional teaching service has been necessary, it has made it very hard for me to keep up with communications. Nonetheless, you fully deserve, and have the right to expect, better communication from us on a significant matter such as this, and I am sorry it has taken so long.

After an extensive evaluation of various approaches to getting the classroom and office building usable again, we ultimately settled on hiring an experienced restoration contractor, R&R Construction, to handle the repairs of the building. Since obtaining permits, R&R have been very diligently working through all of the issues that needed to be addressed, including some significant mold abatement, before starting the reconstruction in earnest.

The following external work has been completed:

• Repairs to all of the exterior decks and classroom overhang;

• Resurfacing of the roof with new sheathing as needed and a full new roofing membrane that is more energy-efficient than the prior one.

 
For all affected areas inside the building, the following has been completed:

• Moisture testing of the entire building, followed by removal of drywall, sheathing, and insulation along the walls and subfloor where excessive moisture was detected;

• Roof truss repairs, as outlined by the engineer we engaged to guide the process;

• Repairing of the HVAC trunk lines crushed within the roof;

• Testing and rewiring of all electrical circuits damaged by the roof collapse;

• Reframing of damaged interior walls;

• Replacement of insulation;

• Installation of new ceiling and wall panels; 

• Installation of new subflooring;

• Rewiring of the fire alarm system. 

We are currently in the process of finishing interior painting, and are scheduled to install new flooring towards the beginning of next week. What remains to be completed is some trim work and final electrical work, at which point we will be ready for a final inspection of the repairs.

We anticipate being able to move back into the office and classroom building at the end of the month, and are hoping to resume classes in the Krishna Bhakti Bhavan classroom at the beginning of April.

Additionally, we have taken the opportunity to hire a certified arborist to perform an inventory and review of all the trees across the entire campus. The arborist has provided us with a comprehensive report, detailing some mitigation efforts that we need to undertake to ensure the safety and integrity of the trees on our campus. We will be working with a qualified tree company to perform the recommended work.

Once the reconstruction work has been completed, we will share a complete financial breakdown of the costs that have been incurred throughout the course of this entire process.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who has donated to help us get to this point, and also for the patience of our families with students who have been affected by the loss of the classroom. We also greatly appreciate our Bhakti Bhavan teaching and office staff for their flexibility in working through these circumstances.

We look forward to resuming normal class and office operations very soon.

Yours in service,

Visvambhara Dasa
Head of School