Build A Bbq Island

Park at Cedar Lawn redo about done

Park here: About six months after crews began nearly $4 million in interior and exterior renovations to the island’s iconic The Park at Cedar Lawn, 4400 Ave. N., units are becoming available for lease.

During a ribbon-cutting and grand-opening ceremony attended last week by members of the Galveston Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Joe Jaworski, island-born investors Eric Conner and David Schaper Jr. offered tours of remodeled units that had been vacant since Hurricane Ike struck in September 2008.

The Park at Cedar Lawn is a historically significant property that also was popular with renters before the storm struck. The property began in the early 1930s as a U.S. Marine Hospital, which provided care to merchant seamen. The Galveston Architect Guidebook described the buildings as an “imposing complex of Anglo-Palladian-style buildings.”

In the 1980s, infamous developer J.R. McConnell acquired the hospital building along with some surrounding property. McConnell, who wound up indicted and bound for federal prison, electrocuted himself in a medical holding unit at the Harris County Jail in 1987.

Before his death, McConnell hired architects Makover Levy to redesign and expand the property into apartments. The transformation led to 44 units with 39 unique floor plans in the old hospital, along with 144 garden-style units in new buildings.

The three-story former hospital went largely undamaged during the storm, and those units have been occupied or available for lease.

But the garden units McConnell added sustained heavy flooding and have been vacant since the storm. As it stands, 16 garden units are available and about eight units will become available for lease about every three weeks, Schaper said.

Conner and Schaper are managers of a partnership that in January acquired the The Park at Cedar Lawn from Denver-based investment and management company Aimco.

Conner and Schaper used the renovation as an opportunity to better tie in the colors and look of the historic building and the newer additions.

Crews replaced the blue paint on the garden-style apartments and added dentil molding that complements the molding on the historic building.

When complete, all the garden-style apartments will have new flooring, counters, appliances, washers and dryers, among other amenities.

How to Build a Barbecue Island | Buy BBQ Islands

If you’ve decided to forgo the expense of a contractor and want to build a barbecue island yourself, you’ll want to keep a few simple steps in mind.  First, collect a shovel and a level and the following items: a BBQ grate of standard size, a bag of sand, some fire bricks, and six by eight by sixteen long concrete blocks.  Once you have these tools and parts in place, you’re ready to begin:

Dig a trench about eight inches deep.  The actual dimensions may vary based on how large a BBQ island you wish to build; remember, though, that it needs to be a few sizes larger than your concrete blocks.  Next, lay the bricks in a row inside the trench.  Keep them even against the ground, making them flush.  You’re building a foundation with this first row, so check to add sand or subtract dirt to make sure they’re level.  Then, continue with this row throughout the trench, even in the front of the island, ensuring that the foundation for the burning area is contained.  Next, you may finish the foundation by placing the fire bricks inside the first row of blocks, making sure to keep the bricks covered with sand and to fill in any cracks you might find between them.  Take care here, because this will became the foundation for all future fires.

After you’ve completed the foundation, it’s time to close in the back and sides of the pit.  Place the concrete blocks down until they reach a height of approximately forty inches, and make sure to leave the front side open.  There’s no mortar to use here; the blocks are going to be held in place by their own weight.  For this reason, make sure you’ve installed them precisely.  After you’ve finished this part, you’ll want to make the mount for the grate.  Stack the concrete blocks inside the pit about three high on either side, checking to be certain they extend to the back of the pit.  Your grate will rest on these blocks.  To make sure the grate is secure, take two more concrete blocks and place them on each side of the top of the grate, pinning it down.  That’s the last step.  Your new barbecue island should be ready for use.

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