This was a another productive week for the Barn project. Thank you to those of you who came to our meeting at the Duvall Visitors and Centennial Center on Saturday! Wow what a great group of people!!! So many talented folks pulling in the same direction! The energy was fantastic! Can’t wait to continue with this momentum!
We feel that the meeting on Saturday was very successful. One of the best things about it was that it was attended by people of all ages. There were many good ideas and commitments made by volunteers. Overall there was a spirit of teamwork. To pull this project together and really make it happen we need all of you, your positive energy, your ideas, and your strengths! Thank you all! We are so excited to be working with so many members of our wonderful community and can’t wait to continue to strengthen our team.
At the meeting Lin McBride talked about the history of the DFA and the Barn project. We talked about the current Memorandum of Understanding among the City, the DFA, and Westcott Homes, which was approved last week. We discussed the barn itself and its current condition including the collapse of the south face of the barn. The exterior design for the barn was presented and discussed. The future location of the barn was also shown and discussed. The need to submit the site plan information to the City next week was also talked about. The City Planning Manager, Lara Thomas, was even present to answer questions!
The group talked about what was the most important part of the barn to save. The consensus was that the loft space was the most important thing to the group. The contractor was at the meeting to discuss the possible methods of stabilizing the barn. The group decided to move ahead with emergency stabilization while additional information is gathered. Connie Zimmerman was tasked to work with the contractor to develop a scope of work and get the contractor under contract to begin the stabilization. The practical challenges of using a dairy barn which was built so many years ago for an occupancy for public assembly were discussed. Strategies to address the project challenges were explored. The contractor, the DFA, and the project architect agreed on a structural engineering firm and Connie Zimmerman was tasked to contact the structural engineer. It was acknowledged that there is a lot of work to do, and some of the work items and products were listed, and the fact that they all need done quickly was discussed. Angie noted that the mission statement for the barn should be on the DFA web site. The group agreed. Elizabeth took that as an action item. Kristin Connors suggested that we hold a rally for families that would focus on children and cow bells. It was decided by the group that the cowbell event would occur after the barn dance and the planning for both events would have to be done now. We decided to meet again next Saturday from 11am to 2pm. Please join if you can.
Bill Connors is drafting a project communications plan. Thank you Bill!
Final plans for the Barn Dance are coming together! Tickets are onsale at Brown Paper Tickets! Admission includes a chili dinner and beverages (wine and beer for the over 21 crowd)! At 7pm dancers from Duvall Performing Arts will lead line dancing lessons, and at 8 Cool Water will perform live! We hope you can make it out for this fun, family event!
We are currently planning our Cowbell Rally. Our hope is to break the Guinness record for most cowbells played simultaneously!! Keep your eyes on our Facebook Page for more information!
