Something Old, Something New; Something Hidden Now in View

From old to new: the old tennis court is loosing its fencing and will soon be ready for parking. The academy's own maintenance people are taking care of this job. The new courts have all the poles in place and await a paint job that will define the courts and bring them to requirements in size and color. As you can see, fencing is still needed. This is a sort of ground hog view of the area.
The annex is revealing much more of its inner structure with its rooms and passageways being defined as the men lay the concrete blocks. Around the corner, the roof is just about defined by the beams that are almost all in place in the photo. Easily seen are the way the beams fit into the wall. Once in, they are bolted in place which means that the i-beams must have holes in the right places when they leave the foundry, and the masons must know where to leave holes in the walls. The pre-planning is phenomenal. The crane, a smaller one again, is sitting firmly in place in the area of the main entrance to the theater. One can imagine crowds in its place in the not too distant future. Good things come to those who wait in patience--for us now, and for the crowds of the future.

Up On The Housetop...

And now for the metal decking (corrugated panels being put on the top of the trusses). These panels will be welded to the trusses, and will support the membrane that comes next in the roofing process. Is there any order in which the decking panels are placed? It doesn't seem so at this stage, but they will cover the whole top of the theater eventually. The beams for the lobby roof will be arriving this week. Then the whole theater will be in various stages of being roofed. Under the roofing as it is now, we can see a good deal of the cat walks. It's easiest to make out on the stage, which is what you see in one of the photos, but the catwalk extends out over the audience area because of the lighting that will be fixed to beams out there. Working the lights will be an adventure in itself.

The other act that is developing on the site is the progressive rising of the gym annex walls. This part of the construction also promises to be under roof very soon . Up on the hill all the poles are up on the tennis court, and, contrary to what was recorded here several days ago, the fencing will be brand new. The usable fencing from the old courts will be used at the east end of the track area. Moving right along....

The Dance Of The Gloved Hand

So what's going on up there? How does the crane operator know if he's guiding the truss or whatever in the right direction--exactly? The man sitting on the parapet is the west wall man who is giving hand signals to the crane operator down in the west yard. This blogger was quite fascinated with the apparent expressiveness of these signals--they were as good as words, maybe better. (Again, be sure to click on the photo.) We can see the east wall man in a bucket, in his turn also giving signals which the crane operator certainly can't see. Is the west wall man relaying these, or is a point man down on the floor the relay person? Whichever it is, the truss in these pictures is snugly brought to its resting place--in the hole reserved for it on the east wall and the slot left for it on the west wall. The man on either side then welds it into place. The man in the middle bucket must disconnect the cable spreaders, the lines attached to the truss. Notice the harnesses on the men in the buckets. These are attached a tether line that acts as a safety line in case a worker would lean too far out from the bucket and fall. We do pray frequently for the safety of the workers! The vertical bars that are hanging from the truss in one picture are hangers for the catwalk. Finally, we can see the "dash board" in a parked bucket. The men we see in the photos above are not only performing their various tasks in the air, but are also maneuvering the vehicle from which the bucket extends. All of this requires a great deal of concentration in order to remain safe and efficient, one would think.
The next posting will show the next act on the roof. Be sure to come back after the break!

Up, Up, and...Wait, Not Too Far!

The photos show a progression of action in the process of placing trusses on the theater frame to support the roof. (Be sure to click on the pictures so you can see what's really going on). Yard work is needed first--the trusses, 80 feet long, must be given a final prep before being borne aloft. Then each is lifted to the top and lowered into place. There the men await to assist in the placing of each truss. These men, one at either end, then weld the truss into its final destination. This process for each truss can take as little as 15 to 20 minutes. It will take the afternoon of one day and the morning of the next to get in place all the trusses as well as the floors of the catwalks and anything other metal frame that must go close to the inside top of the theater. Subsequent blogs will feature more pictures and explanations of this whole process which captivated the viewers on the fourth floor (convent) of the school. Answered will be such questions as, "How can the crane operator know where to go with anything he's put aloft?"

Site Manager's Photos

The 80' steel trusses came in around noon today, and were quickly unloaded. The crane operator began the process of lifting the trusses aloft and placing them with the help of the iron workers stationed above. The Hemmer site manager, Steve McVey, has been kind enough to take some photographs on this crucial day when the blogger couldn't be here. In the bottom photo can be seen the south east corner of the stage with the beams placed on Tuesday as well as a portion of the cat walk.

Steel Yourself

The tennis court has been blacktopped and is now being fenced. The fencing will come from the present court. The east wall of the theater has been completely bricked while the south wall facing the expressway is well on its way.

Today's big act in the drama is the arrival of the shorter beams of steel (largest about a ton) and their placement inside the theater. First, the unloading, some shorter pieces in the yard, bigger beams lifted into the inside over the west wall. The crane then moves into the theater via the large temporary opening, and puts out its stabilizing arms. It then lifts the beams that have been laid on the theater floor so that they will all rest on their sides. Notice (below in Inside Job) that this exposes holes that the lifting cables can be attached to. After all beams are so placed and each in turn fixed to the crane line, the crane operator lifts one after the other and swings it over the stage. All these beams will be placed over the stage area today and will support the cat walk and lighting apparatus. In the photos you can see the holes on the wing wall and back wall. These hold the beams in those respective places. There are bolts standing up in the wall holes so that the beams can be bolted in. The beam that stretches across the front of the stage is marked at the foundry so that the iron workers will know where each cross beam is to be placed to line up with the hole in the wall at the other end. This blogger was fortunate to receive a hard hat today and taken onto the site where she could indulge in her photo mania. Tomorrow, the 80 ft. joists arrive--an even bigger act in this drama! Can you guess where they will go?

Inside Job

The Stage's The Thing (for today)

What's going on on the stage? No plays yet, but lots of work. One photo above is taken from the "yard," and reveals the scaffolding on the inside at the corner of the east wall and the stage side wall (as viewed from the seating area). The stage is the opening you see on the right. At present there is a short earthen ramp to the stage. It's functional now but will give way to the orchestra pit eventually. The other photo is showing the doorway from the stage to a future passage way that will go to the stairway on the east side. (Recall the stairway from the ground floor of the present building that goes up to the new lobby area and this passage way.)

Next week: big doins! The steel girders arrive.

More Developments

Since readers do not lie on their desks to read blogs, only one photo appears on today's construction blog, i.e. all the other photos attempted ended up on their sides. What you see is the east side of the theater closest to the building (that's the kitchen dock on the right). The scaffolding is at the top of the back of the theater proper, and rising out of what will be the lobby. The roof of the lobby will be several feet below the height of the scaffolding. Other things of note on the theater scene that photos would have shown: the stage as it will appear to the audience-- the side walls on either side of the stage are in place now, and the floor of the prop storage room that extends into the theater yard is covered with a grid of rods and green plastic sheeting, indicating readiness to receive concrete.

Up on the hill, the tennis court appears ready also to receive its hard surface, having been prepared with the right kind of soil, a layer of some sort of sheeting (probably similar to or the same as that used on the parking lot several years ago, and which has kept it in such good condition), and at least one layer of fine gravel. Exciting things on every front appear as workmen try to beat unfavorable weather.

Things Hidden Now Revealed

Name change in order: what have been identified here as rain gardens, are not going to be rain gardens except for the large one close to the school circle. The others will be green islands that will help to direct the flow of traffic. The difference? You will note that the green islands have a curb all the way around them; the rain garden does not. The side facing the parking lot does not have a curb so that the water draining from the lot will flow into the garden. You will also note, if you have crossed the parking lot lately, that the shapes of a few of the green islands have changed to conform more with the parking spaces next to them. The other interesting thing to have noted (not captured in a photo, unfortunately) was the way a curb is laid. The workers have a special machine which, after being filled with concrete, lays the curb in place in that shape. What will they think of next?
The annex floor has been poured, and now polished at night under a flood light. Around the corner, the men inch up the center wall of the theater which will climb to the height of the other three walls eventually. The last two photos show the men having reached the top of the east wall with bricks, and wall three fourths finished and revealing the decorative stone work. This stone doration has not been visible up to now because of the scaffolding. Surprises at every turn.

All In A Week's Work

The right side of the exterior of the east wall is getting close to being completely bricked as can be seen in the photo taken from below. A little earlier in the process a delivery of bricks is being made to the brick layers (so this is how they get all those bricks up there!). The stage has been layed in concrete which has been polished at night (so thats why the theater was lit up at 8:30 p.m.). Looking closely at the enlarged the photo, you will be able to see the corners of the stage as they will be seen from the audience. The interior wall between the lobby and the theater proper is completed now, while there are markings on the lobby floor that seem to indicate another wall of some sort.

Outside and on the hill to the west of the school is the tennis court site which is seen here from the southeast corner. Notice that the statue of Mary overlooking the Dixie is visible toward the top of the photo. (You'll have to enlarge it to see the statue.) Perhaps we will have to turn the statue around during tennis tournaments, but then, maybe not. Mary's interest in us doesn't seem to require such steps.

Looks Like It's All "To Be..." Post 1

Much to record in photos (two entries’ worth) since Oct. 2. The stage floor is completed now. The interior wall between the lobby of the theater and the seating area is well under way, with bricks being laid. On the outside we can see how the brick laying is progressing, as well as the laying of the concrete blocks over the stairs from the ground floor, main building. The photo showing the bricks laid is from the SE corner of the theater, the closest point to I-75. The outside wall of the theater west wall, with the extension for storage, etc., is also now completed.

Moving down the pictures, (second post for the day) we shift to the parking lot to see the cutting of the asphalt for one of the rain gardens, the digging out of the cut portion, and the plastic lined large rain garden. The corner of the drive from the north side of the building has been cleared and squared off by a machine named mysteriously a skid steer. We see it dumping debris into a waiting truck near the principal’s office.

Back over on the theater side, we get a look as the detention pond as it looks now with drains opening up on its sides. It looks pretty dismal at present, but will teem with life in the spring.
Don't forget to look below.