Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Many homes can claim a location close to nature, but few can boast front-row seats for title fights between boxing kangaroos.

This four-bedroom home is in the exclusive Bracker Place in Macarthur with direct access to an adjoining nature reserve and walking tracks.

Homeowner Vicki Dempsey says the match-ups between the younger marsupials is just part of the daily passing parade on the other side of her garden.

9 Bracker Place, Macarthur: An elevated but flat block. Photo:Supplied

I sit on my swing with a glass of wine and I watch horse riders, joggers, walkers, people on bikes, everybody just enjoying this wonderful patch of nature, she says.

Vicki says she and her husband, Dominic, moved into the architect-designed home in 2003.

Wed previously rented in Macarthur and promised that if work brought us back, wed buy there, she says.

9 Bracker Place, Macarthur. Photo:Supplied

The couple were attracted to the home and its elevated, but flat block, and a sense of privacy.

It combines the best of both worlds you feel like youre in a rural setting, but youre still only 15 minutes to Kingston, Vicki says.

This well-maintained home on a 944-square-metre block offers open-plan living highlighted by a large sunroom that opens onto low-maintenance grounds, landscaped in a formal style.

The sunroom was an addition, but it presents like its part of the house, not something that was tacked on, Vicki says.

Its one of our favourite places to entertain or to simply sit and enjoy the gardens.

Other features of the home include ducted gas heating, cooling system (ducted and split system), double car garaging and double carport, large under-house storage area, automatic watering system and rain water tank, and a gas outlet for barbecue connection.

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Boxing roos are neighbours of this Macarthur home - Domain News

Patch.com

Update: Space Heater Caused Fire at Vienna Home, Says Fire Department Patch.com Fire investigators determined that the house fire, in the 9800 block of Bridleridge Court, began in a sunroom above the garage, the Fire Department said Thursday. It was caused by an unattended space heater that ignited other items in the room ... and more »

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Update: Space Heater Caused Fire at Vienna Home, Says Fire Department - Patch.com

A retired and disabled veteran finally couldnt stand it any longer when her home of 24 years continued to fall victim to weather damage. When Joyce McMillian was diagnosed with breast cancer sometime last year, it seemed like getting her long-time home fixed was never going to happen. However, a huge relief came in the form of a generous and heartfelt roofing company.

Rusty McKeithen and his roofing company, Capital City Roofing and Sheet Metal Association, take it upon themselves to help all veterans in their area struggling with the upkeep of their homes. Through the use of donated materials from Gulf Coast Supply and Manufacturing, they fixed McMillians roof for free. It only took them one day to complete, but it sure saved McMillian many sleepless and frustrated nights in bed, wondering what she was going to do.

With any luck, McMillians roof was hopefully repaired with metal sheets instead of traditional shingles. While some may fear that metal sheets are not as good as shingles when it comes to holding up in poor weather, this is a common misconception. In fact, when compared, metal is proven to be much more durable than other roofing materials.

Metal roofing can actually protect your home from major damage in a storm, as it is known to withstand winds reaching 140 miles per hour. It can also hold up against snow, ice, water damage, and fire.

Regardless of the materials used to patch Joyce McMillians roof, it is at least good to know that it is a huge weight off of one of our veteran soldiers backs. When compared to what shes done for us and our country, its good to know we are finding ways to pay her back.

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Roofing Company Repairs Roof of Disabled Veteran at No Charge - The Lafayette Sun

Turlock Unified School Districts vision of transforming a former car dealership into its new and innovative Child Nutrition Education Center is one step closer to fruition following the Board of Trustees decision to award the projects bid to Royce Construction during their Tuesday meeting.

The bid for the Child Nutrition Education Center to Royce Construction was in the amount of $2,745,302, plus an owner directed contingency of 5 percent, or $129,302.

The approved project encompasses a base bid of $2,362,940, as well as added alternates, including asphalt paving in the parking lot for $25,104, an emergency backup generator for $134,160 and freezer slab and footings for $223,098. These three alternates were previously omitted from the overall project in January when school officials had to scale back the proposal to better fit the TUSD budget, however, the Board was given the option to add them back at a later date for an additional cost.

Last year, the Board approved an agreement with FF&J Architects to provide architectural services to convert a former Subaru dealership located at 1901 Auto Mall Drive into the Child Nutrition Education Center after the District made the decision in 2015 to move the Central Kitchen Facility off of the Dutcher Middle School campus. On Oct. 4, TUSD administration received authorization to solicit bids; however, all bids were rejected during the Dec. 6 Board meeting.

With the information we received, we thought we would go out and do this a little differently, said Child Nutrition Director Scott Soiseth. Ive learned a lot through this process.

A more cost-efficient proposal for the Child Nutrition Education Center that was more in line with Turlock Unified School Districts budget was presented to the Board of Trustees in January, one month after the original project was found to cost a considerable amount more than what was originally anticipated.

During the January meeting, Gary Mallory from FF&J Architects presented Trustees with a revised proposal for the Child Nutrition Education Center that he said would not compromise the Child Nutrition program.

Weve scaled back the project to the base core facility that Child Nutrition Services needs to operate out there, said Mallory in January. By making some changes to the interior finishes and the production area and kitchen, we were able to bring the project back down into a dollar range that the Board was expecting to see initially.

Among the items that were omitted from the main project was a freezer, trash compactor, asphalt paving, loading dock, conference room, grease interceptor and backup generator. Mallory said that while these items, or alternates, are listed apart from the main building proposal, the Board can decide to add them back on at a later date at an additional cost to the base bid.

On Tuesday, Board Chair Barney Gordon once again brought up his concerns regarding the scaled back proposals omission of a backup generator that he originally voiced during the January meeting.

Ive seen instances where a transformer at a site goes out and the site is down for a week, said Gordon. One of my biggest concerns isn't as much of replacing the content, we can write a check and do that it will be painful, but we can do that but being able to serve the meals. If you have students expecting lunch, now we cant feed them lunch because we had a transformer go out, thats an issue.

Trustee Frank Lima echoed Gordons concern, who said that the generator would be an extremely worthy investment to TUSD if Turlock Irrigation District did lose power.

I suspect that at any given time were feeding 14,000 kids on this campus, said Lima. I dont know enough about your department or how much were storing, but I imagine its significant. I would think that it would be prudent and smart. That backup could potentially pay for itself on one or two uses. It seems to me to be a no-brainer.

Also on Tuesday, trustees voted to award the bid for the Roofing Replacement Project to Kings Roofing in the amount of $1,293,780 and an owner directed contingency of 5 percent, or $64,689.

The sites that will undergo roofing replacement work are Turlock High School office and connected covered walkways, Julien Elementary School cafeteria, and Wakefield Elementary School office, library and kitchen. The project also includes three added alternates for Osbon Elementary Schools office and two classroom wings. School site roofs are evaluated annually, and are repaired in priority order, as needed.

Our bids were very good, much better than we had originally anticipated, said Director of Maintenance and Operations Scott Richardson.

According to TUSD, construction for the Roofing Replacement Project will begin on May 30, with substantial completion slated for Aug. 4.

Link:
TUSD moves forward with nutrition center, roofing projects - The Turlock Journal

Positive vibes, robust attendance and a bustling, sold-out trade show floor added up to a record-breaking year for the International Roofing Expo, held March 1-3 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Owned and operated by Informa Exhibitions, the annual tradeshow and conference for the roofing industry drew 11,273 commercial and residential roofing construction professionals and 476 exhibitors spanning a 131,700 square foot showfloor.

This was an amazing show to find leading-edge products, high-level education and numerous networking opportunities, said Tracy Garcia, IRE show director.

She continued, The show floor square footage was up 9 percent over last year, exhibiting companies were up 3 percent and total attendance was up 19 percent, making this our largest, most attended show in the 62-year history.

First-time registrants comprised 43 percent of IREs U.S. attendees, with the largest number of international participants hailing from Canada, Mexico, Japan, Belgium, South Korea and Australia.

Exhibitors were not only pleased with the amount of quality of leads and inquiries they generated during the show, but also with the high attendance and buoyant energy that pervaded the expo, according to show officials,

Of the 476 exhibiting companies present at the show, 88 were first-timers.

The show flow at the IRE was filled with tremendous energy this year, said Reid Ribble, CEO of National Roofing Contractors Association, the shows official sponsor that boasted a 2,000-sq. ft. booth at the event and hosted its NRCA Annual Convention in conjunction with IRE.

He added, NRCA was able to engage with an unbelievable amount of roofing professionals, and all were extremely positive not only about the success of this years show but (also) about the overall future of the roofing industry.

In addition to the busy expo, IREs well-attended educational conference featured 44 sessions geared to help industry professionals stay on top of market directions, trends and cutting-edge technology.

Education also was available on the showfloor through The Roofing Institute, the GAF Education Center and Exhibitor-Presented Seminars.

Special events included a keynote address by Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Rob Waldo Waldman; an opening night Welcome Party at LIGHT Nightclub; the National Women in Roofing Reception, and outdoor experiences including the SRS Extreme Tailgate, a Trailer Crane Demo by Lifting Equipment Solutions and a booth by Roser.

In an effort to give back to the Las Vegas community, the show held a pre-show Community Service Day on Feb. 28, during which 45 attendees and exhibitors volunteered to renovate the homes of two families in need.

The IRE was by far the most attended and exciting, good-vibe show I have ever attended, said Attendee Michelle Draucker, sales administrator for Las Vegas-based Commercial Roofers, Inc.

She added, The sessions were educational, surprising and entertaining. The expo floor was filled with great energy. This was the best IRE show to date.

The 2018 International Roofing Expo will be held Feb. 6-8 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

The rest is here:
2017 International Roofing Expo Scores Largest Show in 62-year History - TSNN Trade Show News (blog)

For more than 50 years and since the 1950's, Riser Animal Hospital has occupied an L-shaped piece of property in the 5300 block of Touhy Avenue, according to Riser officials who are looking to build an expansion.

The Skokie Plan Commission Thursday, March 16, unanimously recommended a special use permit for the project, which would allow Ridiculous Hat LLC, the owner of Riser, to move forward with the building addition.

The Skokie Village Board will have final say on the special use permit request at an upcoming meeting.

According to Riser's special use application, the building currently occupies 3,830 square feet of space and would add another 1,796 square feet with the addition. The inside of the existing hospital would also be "substantially renovated" including adding accessible restrooms, according to the application.

"The existing building is somewhat residential in character, and the doctors, staff, and pet owners wish to maintain this welcoming appearance," the application states. "The proposed building addition adds more visual variety and interest with a combination of face brick and other materials."

Developer Joe McCarthy with the firm of JF McCarthy said only two small additions have been built since the original building opened, which he said is believed to have been 1956.

He said two doctors now own the hospital.

"It's been maintained and in continuous operation," he said. "The (owners) want to bring it to the next level of service" to handle increased patient demand and range of services.

The addition would be located on the north side of the property near Touhy Avenue, McCarthy said.

An apartment on the second floor would remain unchanged, he said.

Village planners agreed the second-floor apartment is not an issue, but they said it would not be allowed above a veterinary hospital under today's code.

In essence, they said, the apartment is grand-fathered in.

McCarthy said the owners have worked with village staff to come up with a plan for the addition that includes storm water management, landscaping and improving the general appearance.

The nature of the existing operations will remain unchanged, he said, so there will be no increase in police demand.

Niles resident Ruth Cohen, a customer of Riser, told the commission she supports the expansion and values Riser's service.

"I've come to Riser Animal for 40 years," she said. "There's got to be a reason. It's good for the village of Skokie as well because when I go to Riser, I go (shop) at the Jewel in Skokie. So I think it would also bring more business into Skokie."

misaacs@pioneerlocal.com

SKReview_Mike

Read more here:
Longtime Skokie vet hospital gets Plan Commission nod for renovation - Chicago Tribune

A process for allowing residents to petition to make theirneighborhoods single-story only will go to the Cupertino City Council next month after the planning commission voted 4-1 last week in favor of the plan.

Often, neighborhoods will ask fora single-story overlay district to preserve history or a certain character of the neighborhood. Predominantly Eichler-style home neighborhoods in nearby cities like Sunnyvale have adopted single-story overlay districtstoprotectprivacy and access to natural light and views.

Cupertino currently has four single-story overlay districts, all near Highway 85 and De Anza Boulevard. There is also one designated Eichler home district and one agricultural district in the city thathave specific restrictions on alterations and additions to homes.

At its meeting on March 14, the commission heard a presentation from city planner Erick Serrano, who explained that there is no existing application process for residents who want to make their neighborhoods single-story overlay districts.

Only neighborhoods with 75 percent existing single-story homes will qualify for a single-story overlay district under the proposal.

According to the staff report, property owners from the Creston-Pharlap neighborhood to the east of Highway 85 and north of Stevens Creek Boulevard asked the city last summer about making their neighborhood a single-story overlay district,citingconcerns related to the approval of a complying two-story home in their neighborhood.

The city was concerned that a lack of an official process for creating these districts would result in problems and confusion among neighbors, leading to a contentious environment. So in August, the city council recommended staff study the itembefore moving forward with the request.

The proposedprocess would require the applicant to circulate a petition in the neighborhood. At least two-thirds of the property owners must sign the petition in order to submit an application with the city.

Once the application is submitted, the city would then look at zoning requirements, including compliance with existing regulations and environmental review.

Then, the affected property owners would be included in a formal mail-in voting process, of which two-thirds of the property owners would again have to agree with the proposal.

If the majority voted in favor of a single-story overlay district, the application would then be scheduled for public hearings with the planning commission and city council.

Serrano told commissionersthat city staff looked at surrounding jurisdictions for examples of single-story overlay district approval processes. Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Los Altos all have a process for approval, though each differs in their parameters.

According to the staff report, a neighborhood is anything that can be separated by boundaries, which are defined in the staff report asnatural or manmade features such as, streets, waterways and existing zoning boundaries.

Commissioner Geoff Paulsen voiced opposition to single-story exclusive neighborhoods, but supported the proposed petition process.

Times are changing in Cupertino, Paulsen said. We have to understand that change is coming, change is inevitable. I think people should be free to build a home that is, frankly, large and beautiful, and doesnt necessarily need to diminish the neighborhood itself. I think its inequitable to have a one-story overlay. So frankly, Im against it. I think that its unfortunate that other cities have gone ahead with this. I would like to see us become a city that welcomes newcomers, that welcomes immigrants and that welcomes a variety of architectural styles.

Commission Chair manDon Sun cast the lone dissenting vote because he felt having single-story districts at all would create more work for city staff, create tensions among neighbors and discourage newcomers from settling in certain neighborhoods.

Commissioner Alan Takahashi, however, said he believes the process will, for the most part, bring neighborhoods together instead of driving them apart.

I definitely feel like its an element that would drive a little more community cohesiveness because you would have a common cause, if you will, that the community would rally behind, he said. The downside would be creating a little bit of divisive environment for somebody that wants to add that second story. (But) my hope would be that they would have discussions with their neighbors that are in favor of the overlay. All in all, I fully support the overlay.

Serrano said a similar process will also exist for undoing a single-story overlay district if the neighborhood so wishes.

The city council is tentatively scheduled to hear the item at its April 18 meeting.

See the rest here:
Cupertino: Process to petition for single-story only neighborhoods headed to council - The Mercury News

A search for a particular postcard rarely ends with my putting my hand on the image I had in mind to start.

It began with a thought of the Public Market, the brick-faced store on Dodge Street that was, when I was a child, truly a food market, one of two year-round groceries on the island. For a spell there was a third, on what some still call the New Road, never mind that it hasn't been that now for more than a century. Primarily there were two stores, both year-round.

I know that the Public Market is shown in a series of Genuine Curteich-Chicago C. T. American Art postcards, all with a raised linen finish, and a narrow white border.

Printed on the back I knew but had forgotten are the words distributed by Block Island Public Market and I remember seeing them on a rack in that store and being taken by the sharpness of the images. They must have been among the last of that technique, photographs colored and processed to appear crisp and clean, before the standard became glossy color.

I presume they were done all at the same time, in the latter part of the 1940s, a guess based on a card of the Adrian Hotel with the sign First Baptist Church at its entrance. It would have been put there sometime after December 1944, when the Chapel Street church burned.

The congregation then moved to the Adrian, which had been gifted to the Trustees by the will of Lucretia Mott Ball. They prooceded to spend the next few years arguing about what to do and where to go before finally, not unanimously, voting to build a sanctuary onto the elegant hotel. The cornerstone indicates construction began in 1952.

There are other cards in my unsorted collection a pretense of a word for this assortment stuffed into envelope file folders then loose on my bottomless pit of a table is another, similar in colored, textured, appearance, showing the southern end of the Neck Road and the old Lifesaving Station that burned in the 1950s. It was not occupied, just a building we passed on the way to the harbor. I remember the day after the fire hearing one of the boys in Sunday School talking of it and seeing what looked like miles of heavy hose stretched out on the sidewalk on the north side of Ocean Avenue.

My attention always has gone directly to the station, all gables and dormers, nearly identical to two others on the island and several more in the region, all built at the same time. A signal tower rises from the space between it and the road, my mother's notation burned, written in her cursive hand, floats above the roof. For all the times I have looked at this card, I have never noticed the old jail is visible where dunes are today encouraged.

The card was printed by the same company, but for Earnest B. Mitchell (if the spelling does not look right it is because it is not), who was the proprietor of the Public Market.

Back to the Market I am carried, when it was all one space, not divided into separate shops as it is now. The windows were wide, as they still are, set in a facade of brick that we think more used on Block Island for government buildings, the Chief's House at the Coast Guard Station and the big Southeast Lighthouse, and outbuildings on both locations, and the North Light. The oldest section of the Block Island School was all brick and the same red masonry fronted the street-facing sides of the old Post Office on the corner of Bridge Gate Square. That building disappeared entirely when the lease ran out and the facility re-located; the structure was enveloped by additions and a second story with a pitched, not flat, roof, although some of the siding is there for the looking, the give-away in a where am I? photo of the interior of a local, seasonal eatery.

The Public Market was an enchanting place to a little girl. The entrance door opened to a sort of corral in the time of Saturday morning westerns on television of black and white rails. There was an entry turnstile, a novelty flanked by a display of Clicquot Club beverages with a smiling Eskimo or two. The owner was a short man, who could be found at the meat counter over by the freight entrance. He and his wife, who was often at the check-out counter, lived not above the store, as did the grocers on Front Street, but in a house attached, reached by an interior screen door at the back corner of the aisles.

There were high shelves along one wall with unbreakables out of reach but attainable with a long handled tool that hung at the ready, a mechanical claw at its end. I wanted something, anything, from that shelf simply for an opportunity to use the clasper.

Another black and white rail defined the path to the exit door, guiding customers past a long check out counter on which sat a gumball machine. I found gum fundamentally boring, and gum encased in a tasteless hardened sugar had little appeal, but that machine, an ultimate marketing tool, promising to send one of a number of possibilities of color out a little chute for the price of a small coin, was intriguing.

It was those postcards, of a place I knew, but not quite, that truly captured my imagination. I am sure I begged for one and took a long time deciding which to pick. The school, without the trees flanking its entrance, the Adrian without the church, the Public Market, itself. I cherished them, studied their details and when I finally lost interest my mother put them aside. I doubt she ever imagined all these decades later I would be holding them to the light, marveling at the craftsmanship memorializing a time just outside my own memory.

The rest is here:
Outside my own memory - Block Island Times (press release) (subscription) (blog)

Lash Group expanding Fort Mill operations with second building, new parking deck Charlotte Observer Lash Group is beginning construction of a second building and a parking deck at their Fort Mill campus at Kingsley, according to Fort Mill Mayor Guynn Savage. The patient support services company already occupies a five-story, 250,000-square-foot ... and more »

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Lash Group expanding Fort Mill operations with second building, new parking deck - Charlotte Observer

Erik Beene | Published 03/22/17 11:20pm

The Chapel Hill Town Council approved plans for a new pre-K and high school campus on South Merritt Mill Road at the site of the historic Lincoln Center on March 13.

The site will feature a two-story building housing all pre-K classes on the first floor and new district offices on the second floor, said Jeff Nash, a spokesperson for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Nash said the project has a total price tag of $25 million.

That, we think, is going to be a wonderful way to provide a better service to all of our pre-K students, Nash said. Instead of having various people physical therapist, occupational therapist, social workers, etcetera going from school to school, we are going to be able to serve the kids in one spot.

Nash said by consolidating all pre-K classes into one location, more space will be freed up in elementary schools. The increased capacity will prevent the need to build a new elementary school in the near future.

In addition to the new pre-K building, Phoenix Academy, the districts alternative school, will also have a new building able to hold more than 100 students. Thirty-five to 40 students currently attend Phoenix Academy.

The current building on the site, the historic Lincoln Center, will be torn down. Lincoln High School served as Chapel Hills high school for black students until the integrated Chapel Hill High School opened in 1966.

The district has worked with Lincoln High School alumni throughout the process. Nash said they have been supportive of the plans and hope the space will once again be used as a center for learning.

When we told them the plans for the pre-K, they were just delighted, he said. They just loved that.

Nash said the historic gym will remain and will be refurbished. Part of the new pre-K building that also houses administrative offices will feature a museum dedicated to black education in Orange County.

[The alumni] have a lot of memorabilia from back in the day, the trophies and pictures and just neat stuff that they have saved over the years, Nash said. So they are going to help with the collection and what is displayed.

Nash said the museum would be open to the public.

Kay Pearlstein, senior planner for the Chapel Hill Planning Department, presented the plan to the town council.

Pearlstein said the reaction to the plan was positive. The town council approved it 6-1, she said.

She said the plan has been in the works since November 2015 and it usually takes a year and a half to complete the approval process. Since the town approved a bond, the school system has been proposing additions and smaller projects for many schools.

It's good they got this one approved when they did, Pearlstein said.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Donna Bell had some concerns with the project when it was first presented to the council. However, Bell said the school system made a compelling case for the project.

I think there were some concerns raised about making sure that this was a project that truly served our community in a way that we feel is consistent, Bell said. I think they made that case and so we approved it.

@The_Beene

city@dailytarheel.com

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CHCCS to build new pre-K, high school at Lincoln Center location - The Daily Tar Heel