As part of President Bill Chace’s inauguration activities seven years ago, the University launched a home-building project with Habitat for Humanity to celebrate the service component of Emory’s mission. Now, as Chace prepares to step down from the presidency, he is asking the community to pitch in again and help provide a public-service bookend to his nine-year term in office.

“Symmetry,” Chace said simply when asked why he wanted to build another Habitat house. “In addition, I want the University to be seen as a place where scores of people are interested in making the city a better place to live. And I want them to invest real ‘sweat equity’ in that interest.”

Indeed, Chace himself isn’t too shabby with a hammer and saw; the president said he makes one piece of furniture per year, last year building a trestle table.

Beginning on Feb. 15 and running for seven consecutive Saturdays, Chace will put that expertise to use, as he and a group of University volunteers will help construct a house from the ground up. A number of administrators—including interim Provost Woody Hunter, General Counsel Kent Alexander, Campus Life Senior Vice President John Ford, Facilities Management Vice President Bob Hascall, Human Resources Vice President Alice Miller and Carlos Museum Director Bonnie Speed—already have signed up for shifts. Chace will work on the first day.

“As ‘home improvement’ and the University’s engagement with Atlanta have been two of the hallmarks of Bill Chace’s presidency, it seems fitting to mark his last year as president by building another Habitat house in Atlanta,” said University Secretary Gary Hauk, also scheduled to roll up his sleeves during the project.

Emory must provide 35 workers each Saturday. The construction schedule is as follows:

Day 1 (Feb. 15): Clear foundation, paint block; set floor joists; lay floor-decking; run exterior walls (sheet panels, pink wrap); run interior walls; straighten, brace, and tie walls together; install lower porch package.

Day 2 (Feb. 22): Prep and place trusses; install windows, trim packages; interior framing (wind bracing, deadwood, attic stairs, fan, deck, etc.); deck roof; install sub-fascia, barge rafters; felt roof; install drip edge; set up siding trim (corner boards, skirt board, drip cap, start strip).

Day 3 (March 1): Shingle roof; insulate walls, begin ceiling insulation; install siding, begin caulking; lay underlayment in kitchen, dining room, bathroom.

Day 4 (March 8): Finish ceiling insulation, insulate crawl-space; caulk and paint siding, window trim, foundation.

Day 5 (March 15): Prime interior walls, paint; run baseboard; window sills, miscellaneous trim; install cabinets and counter tops; touch up exterior paint; begin soffit and fascia.

Day 6 (March 22): Finish painting interior, touch up; finish soffit and fascia; begin installing handrails.

Day 7 (March 29): Clear lot, landscape; install doorknobs, bathroom hardware; clean house interior; finish handrails, miscellaneous punch-out.

On the last day of construction, Hauk said, Emory will arrange a dedication ceremony for the house with the owner family.

Volunteers should send e-mail to Hauk at ghauk@emory.edu to sign up for a shift date.

Participants are asked to submit first and second choices for shifts, and if the University is so fortunate as to have too many volunteers, Hauk said, a waiting list will be established.