The Ezekiel Project - News and Updates

MAJOR PRESS RELEASE!

For years, Stonebrook Community Church’s college ministry, The Rock, nurtured a vision for a music venue and community center to benefit CampusTown. As a result of that vision, and with the help of generous people and God’s grace, the building at 3329 Lincoln Way has been resurrected from its lifeless shell. Zeke’s, named for the prophet Ezekiel in the Bible who had a vision of resurrected dry bones, has been refitted with state of the art sound system and plenty of well-designed gathering space.

Zeke’s is designed as a welcoming place for students and community people to gather and host events—and to draw musicians to the Ames music scene.

A dedication for all Ames churches and major contributors and contractors will be held on Saturday, Dec. 1st from 2-5pm with a program featured at 3pm. There will be tours, food, and lots of fun for everyone.

Also, the public is invited to a sneak preview open house on the same day (Saturday, Dec 1st) from 7-9pm featuring tours of the building, refreshments and live music starting at 9pm by award-winning local band, The Lone Strangers.

Contact Tim Borseth
515-292-3028 OR 515-291-3296
E-mail info@zekesames.com

Putting up the siding... finally!

It's been a long time in coming.
We have the inside 99% done (a few trim issues and other minor details here and there). It's been an awesome place for the Rock to rock, and our prayer is that God uses the excellence of the place and the love in our lives to draw more and more people to him. He is truly worth every effort we have put into this ministry outpost.

The good news of this post is that the exterior siding is finally up!! It looks so good to have that tyvec covered after 2 years of being an eye sore. Thank God!

Unfortunately, more work needs to be done. There is a small piece of corrugated steel that needs to be ordered and applied to the area above the cafe door, and we need to order and install all the soffit material. It's all been measured and ordered already, so hopefully there won't be another 2 year wait for that.

To see some pics, go here.

What's left?
1) Fulfill your pledges. We've spent or overspent every budget item and so if everyone doesn't fulfill their pledge we're going to be in a world of hurt.
2) If people are faithful to give, we might have some money to invest in these remaining items:
a) Signage... to let the world know who we are and what's in here.
b) Cafe space... as building owners, we are responsible to build out the space with HVAC and electrical at a minimum.
c) Repair- the roof keeps getting leaks and the parking lot keeps getting holes.
d) Events- to jump start Zeke's well need to host some big events there.
e) Zeke's website will need to be upgraded continually. We'll need money for that. The main website is being worked on now.

Where are things at with the cafe? As of right now, the Bruces are still working at securing the experience and the financing to pull it off. Pray for them. We want what's best for them as a family and what best for the ministry outpost. It may not be until the fall of '08 before the cafe becomes operational.

Looking oh so sweet!

We've been putting the finishing touches on Zeke's all week after our inaugural event (The Rock) last Friday night followed by a Guitar Hero Tournament.
Much of the sound and interior design tweeking needing to be done has been done: sound guys from R & D did some training, Zeke's kitchenette and countertop are done, bathroom stalls have been fixed (mostly fixed anyway), ect... As good as last week was, this week will be even better.

Zeke's is now fully open and available for use by non-profit groups and for rent by private groups and businesses. Get the word out about the sweetest music venue/ community center in town. See some pictures here, but the best view of the place your gonna get is right on site.

Come to another Rock service at Zeke's tonight and every Friday night starting at 7:30pm (ish)!

Got occupancy!

Well... at least a temporary occupancy permit... but it's good to go for now!
On Thursday morning (8/16/07), we got enough critical safety issues addressed to receive a temporary occupancy permit from the city of Ames until Sept. 15. I'm confident that we will be able to take care of the remaining issues by that deadline and get our permanent occupancy permit.
All along the way, God was pouring out grace and last minute blessings for us to get us this far. We praise Him for what He has done and what He will yet do.
To celebrate this and show off the place, The Rock held a small, informal gathering on Friday night (8/17). It was a nice time. The real show, though, will happen with the first Rock service at Zeke's on Friday, Aug. 24 starting at 7:30pm ish. See ya there and bring everyone you meet.

Gunning for an occupancy permit

We are putting in long, hard hours doing all that we can to get an occupancy permit for Zeke's in time for the fall semester. You might think that means just "gettin' er done", but it's not that easy. Before we can get occupancy, we need to pass inspection. Before we can pass inspection, we need to satisfy all the myriad of city code.
Let me share what we are facing now to meet code:
1. A handrail leading up to the stage. Didn't have one, didn't plan it. We can't just go to Lowe's and pick one of those up (at least for our kind of facility). Thanks to Nevada Metalworks, Inc. we have one being made as I type.
2. The ramp from the cafe to Zeke's needs to be changed or it could be a safety hazard. We're still not sure how to change it... ramps all around, fixed seating as a barrier, what? Once we figure that out, we need to do it before we can get approved.
3. We need to put up a temporary wall between the bathrooms and the cafe, since it will be awhile until we get the cafe done.
4. And none of that stuff addresses all the other issues of covering exposed construction, flooring, fire system, emergency exits, and on and on.

So pray and please volunteer any time you got to help us get all this stuff done! We're so close to the finish line. Today, carpet was installed on the main floor of Zeke's. The remaining parts will go down tomorrow. Then, once the other stuff is done, we can have a final inspection.

Check out the latest pictures. Zeke's is looking sweet!

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