A series of entries designed to capture the ongoing adventures of NINA! See how we came to be where we are today, and follow along as we enter the new century of social media!
Page: 38Okay, so we don't really call it "capping" the first floor, but it's the same process we undertook with the basement. Here, the first floor walls are in place, and the beams that will support the second floor have been installed. Next step: putting on the actual floor, and then we'll frame the second floor.
We had a good group from The Hartford today. Led by Andy Daly, who is Assistant General Counsel, Lead Counsel Contracting Center of Excellence and President of NINA's Board of Directors, 16 employees from The Hartford (plus one from Travelers) raised all of the walls on the first floor of the house.
The Hartford's employees volunteer with us year-round, but this volunteer work was special as it was done for the Day of Caring, The Hartford's annual day of service in commemoration of 9/11. NINA is proud to be one of the many sites in Hartford at which The Hartford's employees volunteer for this very important event.
The Hartford is also a member institution of NINA's -- along with Aetna, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, and Webster Bank, The Hartford founded NINA in 2003 to address blight in the Asylum Hill neighborhood of Hartford.
With the help of a group of volunteers from The Hartford, we raised the first wall of 52 Huntington Street this morning. For us, this is the equivalent of laying the cornerstone: it indicates that our new home is fully underway!
At the right side of the photos are Valerio Giadone, architect for this project, and Ken Johnson, NINA's executive director.
As we get ready for volunteers to help us with the framing for 52 Huntington, we worked today to cap the foundation. This involves the installation of what is effectively the first floor, and it's a process that will be repeated after we frame the first floor, which in its turn is the foundation for the second floor. The volunteers are on their way in three days, and we'll be ready for them!
We've poured the foundation at 52 Huntington Street -- next step is to cap it, so that we can start building the house.
Our friends at ConnDOT escorted this week’s group around some of the spots that will be substantially impacted by the planned changes to Interstate 84.
Being mid-August, we thought that a walk inside would be a good idea! Today it was Aetna. We started at the geographical center of Hartford (so says Aetna, but they installed a medallion to prove it), and then we toured the building. The highlight was a look at the vault: what a huge massive door!
Today we got a peek inside Asylum Hill Congregational Church, which provided some insights into the building’s history in the neighborhood. We also got an close-up look at the Angel of the Boar’s Head Festival, which was prepared by Anne Cubberly.
Several views of the kitchen donated to us by The Hartford -- it really does look like The Hartford's kitchen was built with this space in mind!
A nice turnout for a second day in a row! This year, Mary Falvey took the group into Trinity Episcopal Church on Sigourney Street as part of her Gospels in Stone tour of the major churches of Asylum Hill. We were joined there by Don Hamer, Rector at Trinity Episcopal, who provided additional details about the memorial garden and the sanctuary. Afterwards, we snick into the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, so participants got two churches for the price of one tour – which is free, by the way!
