The ceiling lights and fans are up and running in both library and lab. Ceilings and walls have their final coats of paint and IFWEF’s contractor has installed laminate flooring throughout the two rooms except where work is pending on two exterior doors and their wood jambs and transom lights. Baseboards are cut to size, painted, and in place. The rooms’ four interior doors await only their final coats of paint.

We are thrilled to announce that the following friends have contributed a combined total of $8,022.12 in support of our MAREC rehabilitation project. Thanks to them the GCAS's two rooms in the historic Wood House have fresh coats of paint in cheerful colors, bright lights and ceiling fans, a utility sink/workbench assembly that can't be beat, and much more. Thank you, one and all, for making the MAREC dream come true:

This latest installment of our MAREC project finds our volunteers (that's some of them over there on the right) completing smaller, more compartmentalized jobs in between visits by IFWEF’s contractor. He and his crew carried out our request to coat the flat, smooth sheetrock on the lab and library’s ceilings, fireplace encapsulation, and electrical panel with an orange-peel texture so that those surfaces would harmonize with the walls' coarser stucco. We were not disappointed. The results are superb.

We are excited to announce that our GCAS supporters have now contributed a total of over $7000 toward our project goal of $10,000. Such generosity has allowed us to continue through the typical fits and starts every rehabilitation project faces, and for that we thank all of our donors. We and IFWEF continue to coordinate the work of our two groups' volunteers with IFWEF's two professional contractors, while each group navigates the challenges of timing the purchase of construction materials subject to - shall we say - today's opportunity pricing.

As we move into April our project partner, the Imogen F. Wilson Education Foundation (IFWEF), is trading places with us to start work on some of their portions of the Wood House rehabilitation. This will allow the GCAS to rest and regroup for our next phase.

One of the GCAS's jobs during February and early March involved the Wood House's adobe fireplace. It had originally served the two downstairs rooms we are working on now, and the two rooms directly upstairs. This fireplace presented a dilemma for our volunteers: its chimney had disappeared decades ago, rendering it useless; but we determined that the surviving, out-of-plumb hearth and mantel downstairs were the central support for this four-room section of the Wood House. Removal was contraindicated.

We of the GCAS are thrilled to announce that the support from our members and friends continues as we forge ahead with our big rehabilitation project. We are deeply grateful to the following individuals and organizations, who our GCAS Treasurer reports have contributed a combined total of $6122.86 toward our goal of $10,000. They and a few anonymous donors have enabled our GCAS volunteers to keep pushing ahead, spending our donors' money on structural repairs, electrical upgrades including charging stations for small electronics, and more. The rooms are becoming visibly more functional and we are excited to be past the halfway point in construction. Please consider joining our friends in helping the GCAS move even closer toward our finish line:

A few spots of bad weather have periodically slowed down work in the two rooms the GCAS is rehabbing in the historic Wood House, but during the past several weeks one GCAS volunteer, working solo, has completed the floor repairs. Floor-leveling and plywood sheathing are done and the floor in both rooms awaits finishing with engineered hardwood flooring. The below-ground-level work is back-breaking.

As of this writing our GCAS members and friends have contributed a total of $5352.12 toward our MAREC project. The repairs to the rotted flooring and floor joists in 2 rooms are almost complete, and wiring upgrades are also underway. Up next: installing ceiling lights and encapsulating the unusable fireplace in the future library room. Follow along as we post progress photos here and on our GCAS Facebook page - and please help if you can by donating here or by emailing us to volunteer some of your time - there's a job suitable for every skill set.

Thank you, everyone!

/s/ webmaster

Phase I of our MAREC project is well underway. 

Our partner nonprofit, the Imogen F. Wilson Education Foundation (IFWEF), owns and maintains the historic buildings at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site, including the two rooms on the ground floor of the Wood House that is the focus of our GCAS rehabilitation project. In Phase I, our GCAS volunteers have joined forces with IFWEF volunteers to safely relocate the large number of educational and field school materials that had been stored throughout the Wood House. We have taken final measurements of the interior spaces allotted to each of our groups for rehab, and are prioritizing each group's rehab activities in project schedules.

The GCAS members and friends listed below have given us a very good start to 2021. As of this writing, together they have donated a total of $4827.12 toward our goal of raising $10,000 to develop two rooms of the historic Wood House at the Mimbres Culture Heritage Site into the Mimbres Archaeological Research and Education Center. We are so grateful for their support because they have enabled our volunteers to start work on rehabbing the Wood House while we continue to seek funding.

We are very excited to be making progress so quickly. Please join these generous folks in helping the GCAS accomplish our priority project: