Considerable progress has been made on the design of the Jill’s House facility. The Board of Directors recently approved a design recommended to them by the Construction Team. The Construction Team had met with parents of special needs children and with a group of special needs professionals to obtain their input into the actual design of the building. These groups helped insure that we had not left out any critical components and provided some outstanding suggestions for our design process. We greatly appreciated their assistance in obtaining a design that would work effectively. Although we had arrived at a design that met most of the requirements and suggestions from both groups, when we did a preliminary pricing on the design it exceeded our established budget. After more reviews and work by the Construction Team, the project management firm and our architect, we were able to put together the option that was approved by the Board in July.

This design will actually provide us with a phased approach to completing the building with all components that were in the original design. The Board approved an $11 million design that will provide the entire shell of the building needed to accommodate the final and desired design in the future. Parts of the building will be exterior shell only, allowing us to come back and complete the building with all of the components at a time when additional funds are raised. In the meantime it does provide for up to a maximum of 30 residents with space for activities and some therapy.

In addition to our Construction Team (a group of dedicated men and women volunteering to guide the design and construction phases of the building process), we are pleased to have added some professional firms to assist us in the completion of the building. Our architect, Rusty Shaw from Architecture Inc, has been working with us on the design aspects for a considerable time. We have also added a project management firm to manage the day to day operations of getting this building planned and built. The group is led by Davor Kapelina of AtSite Real Estate Inc. Lastly we have added Forrester Construction to do our preconstruction work on the project. We are excited about having these partners assist us in getting the project from the drawing board to a grand opening.

We are working with the County on getting all the necessary approvals and permits in place to begin the site work required for this project. It is our hope to begin clearing the land in preparation for building this fall. We are still expecting the actual construction of the building to begin sometime early in 2009.

Future updates will be provided including general drawing and concepts of the exterior of the building as they are finalized during August. It is still our expectation to have the building ready to open during the latter half of 2010. Please be sure to check back for further updates on the progress we are making to turn a dream of helping families in this area into a reality.

For construction related questions, please contact Bill Steele, Vice President for Building and Design at bill.steele@mcleanbible.org or call 703.639.5660.