Boxes

 

Our boxes will be a standardized size of 12" wide, 15" deep and 10" high, supplied by Enviro-Pack Material Handling Inc. They will fit the dimensions you see in this photo, slightly smaller than a standard-issue banker's box, and will be green in colour in order to mask scuff marks and dirt and be distinguishable to the facility. The shelving of the facility was custom made to accommodate the box size and allows us to achieve maximum capacity. Boxes will not be double-stacked, so there is no risk of crushing or compression. They are comprised of an inert polypropylene blend for maximum strength and archival quality. Boxes are opaque to minimize light exposure to artifacts packed within.

Shelves up!

 

The Spacesaver shelving install is almost complete. All verticals all up (16' high!)- and here's the view from the mezzanine. Horizontals, wiring and final lights should all be installed by the end of next week. Shortly thereafter, Shane and his crew will be moving down the highway to see to the install of the shelving at the McMaster facility.

Let there be light

 

The lights work! And what a difference it makes. Here you're looking west from the museum into the Sustainable Archaeology facility. You can see clear through into the storage room with the high density mobile shelving in its final stages of installation. The walls in the 'bridge' are primed and will be painted first thing next week. The millwork is complete (with the exception of a few alternations). Major work is starting out in the parking lot next week as well. And once the lights are installed on the facade outside, I'll be able to share a photo of the completed exterior.

Other initiatives include a brainstorming workshop we're hosting on July 9th to discuss database and policy development, roughing out the plans for our Grand Opening in September, finalizing purchases of our RFID system, microCT scanner and digital x-ray and developing RFQ's for lab out-fittings, computers and other pieces of equipment we will be needing in the near future. Next week we will be receiving a very generous gift of 10 computer systems, a whole bunch of monitors and 5 tablets from Michael Carter at theskonkworks. Thank you so very much, Michael - and welcome aboard! Mike will be joining us in the UWO PhD program next year.

Boston Fan

 

Brad Baker Plumbing, Heating and Electrical have been wiring the new facility and integrating it with the existing wiring at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology. We've seen this hard hat on one of their crew members since the beginning of this project last fall. Ed was one happy hockey fan last Wednesday!

New entrance

 

Here's a first look at the new entrance. The tile is down, the walls are painted and the doors are up.

Wheelchair ramp

 

The site is prepared for the new wheelchair ramp that will be filled in during the next few days. The front entrance to the museum has been dug up and visitors have been required to use the side entrance on occasion. The new flooring will be extended into the current museum gift-shop area next week and the lobby entrance repaired. Doors are being mounted onto the new facility and soon the climate inside the building will be able to be regulated so that mill work/cabinetry can progress.

This Thursday the University of Western Ontario hosts an open house for incoming graduate students. The Anthropology Department will be accepting several new students who will be spending a lot of time at the facility working with digital material culture. We're excited to welcome them, and look forward to the near future when the facility is officially open and buzzing with intellectual activity.

Museum entrance

 

The outdoor work has finally started on the museum site. Crews demolished and leveled the old landscaping around the museum entrance yesterday and have been preparing to repair the old entrance and lay in the new accessibility ramp. The shelving install is half complete on the inside of the building and the facade is prepared for the new siding installation on the outside. Staff have met with neighbors in the community to negotiate landscaping options and the project is excited about the prospect of donating to a Neighborhood application for the City of London SPARKS initiative. 

The summer will be spent purchasing equipment and setting up the new building. The Sustainable Archaeology facility will officially open its doors during the Museum of Ontario Archaeology's Harvest Festival on September 16-18, corresponding with the City of London's Doors Open Ontario event in which both facilities are participating.

Last of the red

 

It's been a while since we've shown the front of the Sustainable Archaeology facility. You can see the new entrance foyer (with the overhang) and the 'windows' that have been installed on the repository. The braces for the new siding are being installed and siding should start going up any day. Inside, the walls have been white-washed with primer in preparation for the new paint. Next week, the old entrance to the museum will be repaired, the new ramp will be constructed and the lobby/giftshop area of the museum will undergo some renovations in order to provide a consistent look between the two facilities.