Archive for the ‘Construction’ Category

Young’s Hill & 3rd Anniversary Fundraising update

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

There are still 104 posts on Young’s Hill available for “adoption.”

I know everyone who follows the blog wants to be a part of Young’s Hill and this is your chance! For just $50 you’ll get an engraved plaque with your name, a dedication or message of your choice on your fence post.

Check out the plaques so far on our 3rd Anniversary Fundraising page.

plaques (small)

We’ve been making a lot of progress on the hill habitat construction thanks to volunteers. J.B. would love to hear from you if you want to know more about volunteering. Email him: jb@chimpsnw.org.

Here are a few photos taken by volunteers Audrey Spencer and Lynn Williamson who braved the wet and cold weather last Saturday to help make the dream of Young’s Hill a reality:

 

Audrey making sure the fence post is level (this could be your post!) while Jim and Lucas work in the background:

Audrey Jim Lucas fence posts

 

Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest founder Keith holds a post steady as volunteers Lynn and Jim fill the hole:

Keith Jim Lynn fence post

 

The weather got progressively worse as the day went on. We have some dedicated volunteers! Here’s J.B. on the tractor with Keith, Lucas, Jim and Andy adding more fill to a fence post hole.

Andy Jim Lucas Keith JB fence post construction

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped with this project!

Work Party Success!

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Big thanks to Jim, Audrey, Brian, a super hardworking group from Seattle’s Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN), and all of Saturday’s volunteers, we finished setting the poles for the primary fence yesterday!

J.B.’s secret hope is to get all of the poles in for the secondary fence next weekend, so now is the time to contact him to volunteer.

Take a look at some photos of the work yesterday:

working hard

posts being put up

Here’s one of my favorite new features of the hill – we’re calling this Missy’s tunnel:

tunnel on hill

Below is a photo of Karl, one of the NARN volunteers, testing out a firehouse swing. The chimps are going to have so much fun on the hill!

Karl swinging on hose image

Checking out what’s to come

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Yesterday JB took off two greenhouse panels so that the chimps can see what’s going on up on Young’s Hill. They’ve been watching the trucks bring gravel, the bobcat go up and down the driveway, and the lumber arriving, but up until yesterday they couldn’t see where it was all going. Annie and Jody looked particularly fascinated, but everyone came up to the deck to take a peek. Now the chimps can start dreaming of the day they’ll be out there, just like all of the humans are!

 

More progress on the hill

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Eleven posts down, only 209 to go!

We’ve also been adding to the climbing structures…

Signs of progress

Monday, April 18th, 2011

Today, our excavator laid the driveway that will lead up to the gate on Young’s Hill, the chimps’ new 2-acre enclosure. Tomorrow, we’ll begin digging the 1,200 foot long trench along the primary fence line. Spring is finally here!

New Mirror

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Not long after the chimps arrived, supporter Tamela found an acrylic mirror that we hung on the playroom wall. It has gotten pretty scratched up in the last 2.5 years, so J.B. just recently replaced it with a new one. And not unlike her reaction when it was first hung in January of 2009, Jamie spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to remove it.

The view from Young’s Hill

Friday, February 18th, 2011

From one of the recently completed climbing structures (thanks Noah):

Taking things apart

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

One of the practical problems of running a chimpanzee sanctuary involves creating a space that the chimps can’t destroy. Their superhuman strength combined with intelligence, curiosity, and a penchant for destruction keeps us on our toes. We’re very careful to maintain a safe (and sturdy) environment for the chimps, but sometimes there’s not much you can do when Jamie decides she wants to remove one of the baseboards, as in this video.

Progress on Young’s Hill

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

Yesterday J.B. and volunteers Steve and Rick braved the cold to frame the climbing structures that will be on Young’s Hill. (To learn about our plans for Young’s Hill, a 2-acre outdoor habitat for the chimpanzees, watch this video.)

Adopt a Caregiver

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Hi all! I’m excited to be working my way back into the land of chimpanzees and the blog! 

I have a new “adopt a caregiver” request. Who wants to adopt JB? He’s been quite literally shivering his way through various projects in the garage/”shop.” The most exciting projects are welding – he just completed a welding course so that he can make benches and other good stuff for the chimps. So he really needs a shop heater. I guarantee whoever sends him the garage heater from our  Amazon wishlist (or you can send a donation to cover its purchase) will get a very happy thank you from the man himself. Thanks! (UPDATE 1/18/2011: JB HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN ADOPTED. THANKS BARB!)