PBCBA BAR BULLETINS pbcba_bulletin_march 2018 | Page 4

PRESIDENT’S M e s s a g e
We are making progress!!
This proved to be much harder than
expected, but we believe that process is
nearly done.
After an extensive bidding process and
due diligence, we have hired the Sabatello
Company to reconstruct our offices, and
construction is underway. The process
is expected to take 5-6 months, and I am
hopeful that we will finish the project in
June.
A few other issues you should know about-
(1) Our historical items were preserved and
will be placed back in our offices when
construction is completed. (2) we are
working on technological improvements
that will provide new technology to our
members, more to come on this. And (3),
a bit of bad news, we have termites! The
treatment process for this is underway as
well.
Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes
2017-18 PBCBA President
Please know that your board members have
been working extremely hard to get us back
into our building, and more importantly,
to make sure this process is handled
appropriately. Special thanks go out to
Immediate Past President John Whittles,
Dean Xenick and W Mason, who have been
invaluable throughout this process, and our
amazing Executive Director, Carla Tharp
Brown.
So lately, the question I get most often is,
“what’s going on with the bar building?”
The answer is- it’s complicated! But we are
making progress. So here’s the story. The
building’s frame is intact, and so from the
outside, you would probably never know
there was a problem. The inside, however,
is completed gutted. How did this happen? Here’s to progress!
On January 31, 2017, a car accident at
approximately 3:00 a.m. on Belvedere Road
sets off a chain of events. A car strikes a
light pole, which results in the bar building
losing power. Unbeknownst to us, the power
surge causes an electrical fire located at
one of the building’s breakers. Sprinklers
automatically activate, but they are not
strong enough to stop the fire. Because of
the time of day, no one was present at the
building, and by the time our staff arrives
to start their day, there is extensive fire and
smoke damage.
We immediately hired a remediation
company to remove the affected areas.
Initially we were hopeful that part of the
interior could be saved, but after extensive
evaluation, it was clear that the building
would need to be gutted. Following the
completion of that process, preparations
began for the rebuild, including multiple
unsuccessful efforts to eliminate the smell
of smoke in the building.
WE
WILL
REBUILD
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN
4