Wrapping up construction

7-1-06 This past week was a busy one, with construction winding down and the final details being worked on. Check out the progress! Our #1 question we at the Zone face is, "When will you open?" While we can't give an exact date for our "soft opening", you can see from the pictures that we're getting closer. Once we get that final inspection for occupancy, we will share a soft opening date, but before we do, we want to make sure we have everything working right before the first member walks through our doors. We want your first impression to be a knock-you-off-your-feet one!

I know many of you--especially those who have already signed on as charter members--have been waiting very patiently and we appreciate all your support, understanding, and positive feedback. Believe me that we are working as hard as possible and pushing the crews as fast as possible, to get open.

If you get a chance, be sure to give COO Joel a pat on the back (or better yet, sign up as a charter member!) because he has been the point-man for everything construction-related. He has taken the brunt of all the problems and challenges that we have faced since we first started this construction, so be sure to let him know how much you appreciate all he's been doing. If you'd like to e-mail him, you can do so at joel@xrtainmentzone.com.

Now on with the picture updates!

The outside transformation from the old to the new is complete. Every trace of the blue tile is now gone, the window front is all new, and the facing and sign are new. The only thing left from the old are the lights, which we decided to clean up and use for now. Hope you like the new entrance!

Now that the major work in the ceiling is down, the new tiles are being put in. You can see they are the more modern 2x2 size vs the 2x4 size. They are just about done putting them all up by now.

Redland's based Computer Options is doing all of our network and computer wiring. Here they are in the "nerve center", bringing in all the wiring.

Don Singh and company are doing our flooring work. Here's the Cool Zone, which looks like tile, but is actually linoleum! They restrooms are all finished being tiled as well, and they are finishing up on the employee bathroom and break room. Then it's on to the rubber flooring for the workout area.

A view of our retail area within our Cool Zone where you will soon see cool apparel and other retail products hanging off the wall slats and in the counter.

Joel and Robert working on the powerpole for the Makoto and 3Kick, 2 of our martial arts games.

Harvey Watts just finished installing the fire escape door (to the left). You can see that the walls are all down in the multipurpose room and we're now ready for the flooring on the stage and then the kitchen equipment can come in.

A major project has been the installation of the "sound tubes" which are parabolic speakers over where the players will be. This will help keep the noise level down while giving the player stereo sound.

Here the gang work on the logistics for the Eye Toy arena. You can see all the sound tubes on the floor.

A lot of work has been completed on the Eye Toy arena. The powerpoles were put up, the logistics for hanging the LCD TV and the Cobalt Flux PS2 box were figured out, and the soundtubes installed above each segment.

Same thing for the Powergrid Kilowatt wall. You can see one of the TVs mounted on the wall and the sound tubes installed.

Welcome back to General Contractor Fred, who was away on a medical mission trip to Fiji. We're glad to see him up and around since he got very sick near the end of his time there. Glad to have you back, Fred!