Gym Floor

As many of you know the gym floor is not something that originally fit into the budget. However, by diligently watching our cost, Eckels has saved enough money to purchase and install a gym floor. This gym floor is a heat welded floor that is water washable. This is a great thing!

Additionally, a permanent volleyball setup will be installed in the floor. The sleeves for the volleyball net will have plugs which will be flush with the floor when installed.

God is so good!

Big Updates

Over the past week or so many things have been accomplished: All of the drywall has been hung, the ARC has been tied in to the sewer, the gym ceiling has been painted, the lights in the gym are about to be installed, the cabinetry in the bathrooms is being built out, the soffits are being installed under the awning, and we are about to be connected to electricity!

We have received the go ahead to get a banner and place it in front of the building. We will kick that off tomorrow and try to get that installed by Sunday.

We are also setting up a PayPal account for online donations.

Look in this space tomorrow for a big announcment regarding the gym portion of the ARC!

The Big Circle

Ten feet. That's the diameter. That means the radius is five feet. PI times diameter gives us the circumference: nearly 31 1/2 feet. PI times the radius squared gives us the area: 78 1/2 square feet. What will become of that 78 1/2 square feet? Time will tell. I do know a special plan has been made for that focal point of the ARC. The big round window. Watch this space for enlightenment in the near future.

A Tour

Wow! I toured the ARC today and the word that comes to mind is WOW! God is awesome! I will try to drop the exclamation points but no guarantees.

The ARC looks like a big building from the outside. From the inside it is enormous. In every view you could see so much potential. Huge classrooms. An enormous gym. A fantastic dining hall attached to a giant kitchen. Some fellows were installing the showers.

And the youth worship room.

"Room"

That's a misnomer. Room is too small a word. It will be so much more than a room. I cannot wait to see how God uses and blesses Cleary through Kevin and The Youth in that "room"!

Cleaning, Painting and Waiting

Saturday several fellows cleaned all the construction debris out of the building. This will allow painting to take place.

This week the ceiling of the gym will be painted. This in turn means we will be able to hang the lights in the gym this week. It is really starting to look like a gym!

We are waiting to send the press release due to some technical issues we are working through.

Construction Update and Meeting People

Several of us met today to discuss publicity for the ARC. We will be issuing a press release tomorrow. I will post that press release as soon as it is released!

Eckels has indicated there will be two showers in the men's and women's facilities. This is in direct response to the American Red Cross in regard to the disaster shelter.

Kevin relayed a story during our meeting. He met someone walking around the ARC, checking it out. The person he met was not attending church regularly. However, he was certainly curious about the ARC. He asked if we were going to have basketball when we opened up. We certainly are. And God is certainly good! He's using this incomplete project to make contact with folks! Awesome.

Picture Slideshow

We are pleased to announce a slideshow is now available from Flickr. You can view all the current photos here(pops). As we add new photos they will become available through this slideshow.

Welcome Kevin Wade

Kevin Wade, Associate Pastor for Students and Activities, has come aboard as a contributor to The Cleary ARC blog. Kevin has been with Cleary for about a year now leading the youth like a true man of God.

Kevin has been instrumental in feeding information about the progress of the construction. Now he can file reports directly.

Thanks Kevin!

The Upper Room

I'm about to jump out of my skin! We have a stage as of today in our youth worship center "The Upper Room." There's going to be so many teenagers come to Christ right in this room, I just can't wait! I'm actually the first person to have a walk on the "Upper Room" Stage! Now that's AWESOME!!!!

More New Pics

Kevin has sent over a new batch of pictures. We'll get a gallery set up so you can see them in a nice fashion.

For a tease though here's how the front of the ARC is shaping up...

Linked In!

Great news! This site is now linked in to the Cleary Baptist Church website. Whenever a new post is made the CBC Site will be updated as well. Ain't technology great?

Donations

We are looking at getting a PayPal account set up so anyone who so desires can make an online donation to get this ARC floating! In the mean time, if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation toward the completion of the ARC please do so.

Make checks payable to:

Cleary Baptist Church
1580 Florence Byram Rd
Florence, MS 39073

Put a note on the check indicating it is for the Building Fund.

Electricians, Plumbers, and HVAC! Oh My!

They are all in the building working in concert. When the day kicks off it is like an ant colony. Each working moving to and fro carrying out tasks large and small. I am going to see if Kevin will take some more snaps for us. I will post those when he gets those!

Progress Report

The latest progress to report is that nearly all the drywall is hung. That should be completed shortly. Once that is complete the painting can finish.

We drove by and counted the new parking spaces: seventy-three! Wow! I had no idea there were seventy-three new parking spaces! Roscoe told me tonight that there was room for twenty-six more spaces in the drive before the building. That's nearly one hundred more spaces now.

Strategizing with Kevin

Kevin Wade and I spoke for a short time this morning regarding getting the word out. We discussed meeting with a group to come up with some ideas. Kevin has done some work with the media and has some good ideas.

I will try again to get in touch with Roscoe and get an update on the progress. If I get any, I'll post it tonight!

Red Cross Disaster Shelter

I just got word from Kevin Wade that the Red Cross has inspected the facility and we are up to code to be a disaster shelter. That's fantastic! We will still need to complete some training and paperwork after we put this up for a vote before the church. That will be coming before the deacons during the next meeting. Look in this space for the results soon!

Sources, Progress, Interviews, Press Release

Exciting news today. I have pinpointed a source for all things construction related. Roscoe Singletary will be my point of contact. I will begin speaking with him on a regular basis for detailed updates. The latest progress to report is the whole of the lower level will be ready for painting in the near future! Great news!

I have a few interviews lined up with some of the folks involved. Kevin Wade, Youth Minister, has already let me know the name of the facility will be the Activities and Recreational Center (ARC) of Cleary Baptist Church. That's a lot cooler than Family Life Center!

A press release is in the works and will be posted as soon as it is complete.

New pics!

Thanks to Kevin Wade for taking pics of the construction during its progress. I am working with Kevin and others to see if we can get updated pics every day. On the right you will find a Random Picture block. A new, random picture will be posted every 30 seconds. Click on the pic for a larger image. Look for more photos soon!

I am working on a press release for the local and state media. I would like to raise awareness of this project soon.

Tomorrow, I'll chat with Eckels to see if I can get some scoop on the progress!

Welcome to Cleary Countdown

Welcome to Cleary Countdown. Thank you for visiting. The purpose of this site is to raise awareness of and raise funds for the Cleary Baptist Church Family Life Center in Florence, Mississippi. The purpose of the project is to glorify God. We intend to do this by introducing a place unlike any in the community where people can gather and worship God.

If you have driven by Cleary for the past couple of years you have noticed a partially constructed building on an overgrown lot adjacent to the church. Many felt the languishing state of the project did more to harm the witness of the church than help it. At the end of February the body of Cleary Baptist Church voted to move forward with this project and complete the building. Early in March construction began in earnest under the guidance of Eckels Evans, Cleary's resident Fish Fry superchef and general contractor.

In the near future look for posts with pictures, videos, timelines, interviews, projections, intentions, and reports all about the progress of this project. For today, please accept our thanks for visiting.

Welcome to Countdown Cleary!