Day #23: Big Moves and Bigger Challenges

The construction site has been buzzing with activity this week, and while we've hit some major milestones, we've also encountered the kind of real-world surprises that make building anything an adventure.

The Big Deep Dig: Mission Accomplished

First, the good news: the excavation phase for the building foundation is practically complete! We've moved tons and tons of earth over the past weeks, and seeing the actual foundation footprint in real life has been absolutely mind-blowing. Looking at plans on paper is one thing, but standing next to this massive excavation? It's so much bigger, deeper, and wider than I ever imagined.

This foundation is going to require an enormous amount of concrete—apparently that's what happens when you're building a clear-span structure to house a 25,000 square foot facility with 8 pickleball courts and 2 padel courts, plus all the amenities we've planned.

Monday = Concrete Day!

Here's the milestone we've all been waiting for: we start pouring concrete on Monday! Foundation work is always the most critical phase—everything else literally builds on top of it. I'm practically bouncing with excitement knowing we're right on schedule.

Plot Twist: The Great Retaining Wall Predicament

But before we could celebrate too much, construction threw us a classic curveball. When our surveyor staked the location for one of the retaining walls, we discovered it was positioned exactly where we'd installed over 300 feet of sediment control fencing just a week earlier.

To complicate matters further, right behind that newly installed silt fence runs an old farmers wall—hundreds of massive boulders separating my parcel from the neighboring lot.

Houston, We Have a Problem

Our team huddled to brainstorm solutions, but both obvious options looked expensive and challenging:

Option 1: Move the retaining wall. Because of the slope, this would mean adding significantly more blocks—to the tune of tens of thousands of additional dollars.

Option 2: Move the fence. This would require relocating hundreds of boulders from the farmers wall, and we had absolutely nowhere to put them.

For about a day, we were genuinely stumped. Sometimes construction problems feel like impossible puzzles with no good answers.

The Power of the Right Phone Call

Then I had a lightbulb moment and called Roy, the person who sold me the land. I explained our predicament, and within a 3-minute conversation, he had the solution.

Turns out, Roy owns the strip of wooded land on the other side of that farmers wall. He quickly suggested we could push the boulders from the farmers wall onto his property, which would clear the space we needed to move the sediment control fence.

Problem solved! Well, mostly.

Still Navigating the Woods

We're not completely out of the proverbial woods yet. Moving the fence and potentially cutting a few trees to build the approved retaining wall will likely require getting additional approval from the Conservation Commission.

But compared to the tens of thousands of dollars we were staring down just 24 hours earlier, this feels like a manageable hurdle.

The Lesson in All This

This whole episode reminded me of something crucial: the power of engaging people who have knowledge, ability, and willingness to help. Sometimes the solution isn't about finding more money or more equipment—it's about finding the right person who understands the situation and can think outside the box.

Community Support Keeps Growing

On a lighter note, the community support continues to blow me away! We got some fantastic coverage from Hop News (Hopkinton's local newsletter), and many of you joined our waitlist after reading about the project.

Welcome to all our new community members! Whether you've been with us since day one or just discovered us through the article, you're witnessing something special take shape.

What's Next

Monday's concrete pour marks a huge milestone, but as this week proved, construction always keeps you on your toes. Each challenge we solve gets us one step closer to opening day.

Thanks for following along on this journey. Your enthusiasm and support make all the early mornings at the construction site—and all the problem-solving calls with Roy—completely worth it.

Next update: How much concrete does it actually take to build a pickleball palace? We're about to find out!