Parking

PARKING LOT NOW AVAILABLE!

Located in a residential neighborhood, parking has been a problem for the hall for over 100 years. When we bought it in 2016, Tom Mertz of Sunbury Motors let us use his property along route 61 (formerly Bressi Motors) as a satellite parking lot, and we bought a small bus to shuttle people back and forth. He's since leased the lot to Josh Kalinowski, owner of Coal Region Auto Sales and Service, who has continued to allow us use of the lower section of the parking lot.

In February 2022, we "completed" construction of a 43-space parking lot just half a block from the hall on Pulaski Ave. We still have some work to do on it (there are several improvements planned through the end of 2024), but it's now the main parking area for all events.

We prefer that you use the parking lot since that helps our neighbors park in front of their homes. If you'd rather search for street parking, please follow these rules. Failure to comply can result in parking tickets, or an embarrassing visit from the police (we did have an event where the police showed up because a guest's vehicle was illegally parked).

  • Don't park in front of East End Fire's garage door - despite its size, there really is a large fire truck in there that must be able to get out on very short notice.
  • Don't park along any yellow curbs. The fire truck needs a lot of room to maneuver.
  • Don't park in the corner lot immediately uphill from the hall. This is the private property of East End Fire Company (it's well marked), and for use by their patrons only.
  • Don't park in front of any driveways or garages, or close enough that it makes it difficult for the owner to get in or out. Don't park directly across the street from garages if it may make it difficult for the owner to get in or out.

Parking

Full-page parking instructions: MainParkingSingle.pdf
Two-per-page handouts to print, cut, and give to your guests: MainParkingDual.pdf



PARKING LOT PROGRESS

We purchased six lots half a block from the hall, cleared them of buildings and trees, and got to work building retaining walls and filling it in. We're in the process of putting up fencing, lighting, and security cameras. The lot will be paved at some time in the future. Until then, it's still usable with a stone surface.


Just half a block away from the hall!

43 spaces, including two handicap spots

Side view to see the before and after slopes - the blue line is the original contour, and the red line is one foot below the eventual finished surface (leaving room for sub-base, base, and top coat).

3D representation of all four retaining walls.

Original surface, facing west.

Original surface, facing east.

Fill was brought in during 2020, but construction was delayed because of COVID.

Fill was brought in during 2020, but construction was delayed because of COVID.

Ground breaking, May 4, 2021 - prepping for digging out the footer for the rear wall.

Ground breaking, May 4, 2021 - prepping for digging out the footer for the rear wall.

Digging the rear wall footer.

Digging the rear wall footer.

Laying the first of over 444 blocks, each 2'x2'x6' and around 3400 lbs.


First course in the back nearly done!


Finishing up the second course for the rear wall.

Starting the third course.

Finishing up the third course.

Geogrid goes between the third and fourth courses (and between all others the rest of the way up) to help stabilize the wall.

Fourth course done. Once the fill is even with the top of the third course (and compacted), the geogrid will be laid out and covered.

Geogrid all stretched out.

Dressing up the rear of the wall and digging drainage ditches. The ditches will be filled with stone to prevent erosion.

In the middle and lower corner of the lot there will be drains at the surface. They drop down to this level, and connect to these pieces of PVC which are embedded in concrete so the water is discharged out the back.

Fifth course.

Sixth course.

Standing on top of the sixth course, my eye level is about where the surface of the parking lot will be (before paving).

2B stone is placed against the wall for drainage. Perforated drain pipe is run horizontally inside the stone to help collect any ground water and channel it to the down-drains in the middle and one corner.

Grading the front of the lot. The "zero" point is in the middle of the entrance (marked by the orange stake).

This surface will be a foot below the level of the eventual final paved surface to leave room for sub-base and asphalt.

The rear wall is now 10' above the ground.

Just two more courses to go (in the back).

8 of 10 courses in the back - as we fill in this area, we also need to start working on the sides.

Starting to look like a parking lot, now that the rough grade is only about 3' below its final level.

Starting to look like a parking lot, now that the rough grade is only about 3' below its final level.

Fast Forward to October 11th, 2021. The tenth and final course is in place along most of the back wall. The grade is close to the final grade (2.2%), although we need to make sure the grade from left to right is 1% (generally one foot higher on the left than on the right so rain goes into the two drains in the rear).

Next step is to put on the 8" high caps, then core drill into those for the fence posts.



Still plenty to do on the side walls. As we step up the slope, we still want the bottom block to be three feet below the surface to make sure there's no problem from freezing water. It's getting hard to get the full three feet in some areas, however, since we're hitting solid shale/rock. That will provide excellent support, so missing our three foot target by a few inches won't be a problem.

It's exciting to have our first caps delivered!

We were surprised one morning by meowing coming from under the backhoe's loader bucket (which was just a few inches off the ground). This little lady had wedged herself under there. Neighbors didn't know of anyone missing a kitten, although they pointed out that the one vacant house (directly across the street) wasn't very well secured, and many cats have taken up residence. That's undoubtedly where she came from. After a good flea bath, she was happy to snuggle up in her new home. We named her River, but "Hobutt" is a popular nickname since she had her butt stuck under the backhoe.

We're done with the rear wall, right (east) wall, and the east part of the front wall. The left (west) wall is getting closer to the front, but there's extra work to be done here since it's the uphill side and the grade at the corner is 5' higher than the final surface of the parking lot.

We were excited to have caps on the rear wall, but we've recently decided not to go with caps. Once the wall is done, we'll frame out the top, and pour the cap level with concrete. This will let us insert the sleeves for the fence into the concrete (instead of core drilling into the caps), and let us run conduit in the concrete for the lights and security cameras.

The front wall on the right is only 18' long (the depth of that row of parking spaces). Then the entrance will be about 24' wide, after which the front wall will continue along the sidewalk.

Fast forward to February 21, 2022. The wall was completed on February 1st (it was actually "done" on December 21st, except for the final two blocks which were placed today). This week we graded the lot, and today the lines were painted. It's ready and available for parking!