June 8

It all started here. STEM Student Union was founded around the idea of the Blockhouse in 2012. The goal of this project is to convert the softball shed behind the Technology Building at the Bergen Community College, Paramus campus to an off-the-grid STEM workshop. Progress has been slow throughout the years, but this Summer '15 a new wave of STEM students are picking up the mantle and adopting the responsibility of continuing our predecessors' legacy.

This project officially reactivated as of May 25, 2015.
Upon entering the blockhouse, it was full of spiderwebs, debris, and trash. The room was flooded by rainwater from the outside.

The following is a rundown of what has been accomplished since that date:

• Clean and organize.
• We needed to create an environment we could work and think with relative comfort; as a result, the water and debris was swept out of the building and the remains vacuumed with a wet/dry vac.
• Spiders were escorted outside of the premises.
• A few bicycles were relocated to lot A.
• We built a workbench and transported a desk with various STEM tools from SA119 to the blockhouse.
• A temporary AC/Heating Unit was measured and installed.
• Remove bolts.
• Previously, the Blockhouse's inside was divided by a wall. The wall had already been removed by the time we arrived, but there were still nails and bolts on the floor and walls which needed to be grinded.
• Digital Models and Representations.
• The dimensions of the building were recorded and inputted on AutoCAD to create a floor plan.
• An illustration of the building's exterior color scheme has been developed on Photoshop for proposals.
• Drainage.
• We have been constructing a drain in front of the garage door. The flooding has ceased.
• Asphalt, concrete and rocks were chiseled out.
• Cement and gravel were used to create a supporting base before installing the drain.
• Hydraulic Cement was applied near the garage door.
• Research.
• Contacted supplier for confirmation on product detail, because the specification sheet was incomplete online. We were directed to the manufacturer.
• We went to Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft and took pictures of various fabrics.