Through the diligent work of seminary employees, construction workers and volunteers, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is making significant progress in restoration efforts following Hurricane Katrina.
One of the biggest accomplishments has been the restoration of electricity and water. Power has been restored to the front block of the campus and the entire campus now has potable water. Air conditioning and ventilation units also are functional on the front block of the campus.
Contractors have sealed all the roofs on campus buildings. While many roofs have been completely replaced, roof work continues on other buildings.
The mold abatement work in flooded buildings is well underway. The process includes gutting affected areas, pressure washing, applying a chemical treatment and drying. An independent firm then tests the air quality to make sure the process is properly accomplished. Mold abatement work has been completed in a number of faculty homes and students apartments. The work continues as other buildings are gutted.
One of the busiest places on campus is the cafeteria. More than 400 meals are served daily to construction workers, NOBTS employees and volunteers working on the campus. The cafeteria often serves meals to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contractors as well. The hot meals are prepared by Southern Baptist disaster relief cooking units.
To help Southern Baptists track progress on New Orleans Seminary's restoration, the seminary has established a weekly online update page on the NOBTS website.
Updates are posted each Friday along with pictures of the progress. The page may be accessed at www.nobts.edu/Publications/News/Campus%20Updates.html and updates will continue until the restoration progress is complete.
Officials from the New Orleans Police Department's third district will utilize the New Orleans Seminary campus as a staging area for the next few weeks. Officers from the district are scheduled to use the campus for daily meetings and shift changes while repairs are made on their patrol substation. Many of the officers are eating meals at the NOBTS cafeteria as well.
As a gesture of thanks to the seminary, the third district will station several officers on campus each day to help with security.
More than 100 students who continued their semester at New Orleans Seminary this fall will celebrate graduation exercises on Dec. 17 in Birmingham, Ala.
The NOBTS graduation ceremony will be held at the Church at Brook Hills beginning at 10 a.m.
Baptist Press