Countdown to completion!

The last 30 days of construction are upon us, and many really cool parts of the building are appearing. Lighting, mill work, tile and plumbing fixtures that will please all longtime Main Street patrons!

First off, the Concessions and Will Call counter is being installed...

On the left side above, you can see the new bench that is made out of reclaimed pine that was salvaged during demolition, and those pesky columns that used to grace the stage.

Elsewhere in the Front Lobby, you can see the fire door has been installed above the cased opening that separates the Front Lobby from the West Lobby...

And work continues to bring our two water lines (one just for the sprinklers) into the building. It's a weeks-long process that involves multiple inspections and careful flushings of our line, all to make sure our work does no damage to the water main.

(The view outside. Below, where our lines enter the building)

 

The Women's and Men's Restrooms are tiled, the toilets/urinals are being placed, and the sink counters are being readied for their stone surfaces, which will in installed soon.

Dressing table lighting is being installed, much to Shannon's obvious glee! Relax, my fellow actors - mirrors will be installed soon!

One of the Backstage Restrooms is tiled up and almost ready:

The Technical Booth and the Office get some carpet...

The rolling door has been installed over the stage opening in the Classroom/Rehearsal Room:

Most excitingly, installation of the elevator has started! Many pallets of equipment are piled up in the West Lobby as the Schindler Elevator crew carefully installs this very important component of the building that will allow anyone and everyone, young and old, to visit the second floor.

Finally, here are a few shots I took exactly a year ago as we were preparing for the final show before we started the renovation, "Peace in Our Time". What a difference a year makes!

Coming up: more flooring, more mill work, and much more work to be done in the auditorium to get all the new technical bells and whistles ready for the first preview of "Silent Sky" on November 1st!

Busy, busy days are the norm on Times Boulevard right now!

Multiple subcontractors are working on different parts of the building at once. We have electricians stringing wire through the seemingly endless maze of conduits that branch out from our Electrical Room...

And our audiovisual experts are working with the Technical Booth's many, many wires and cables:

Meanwhile, flooring is starting to appear, too. While most of the first floor's floors will be concrete, the one big area that requires a bit more is the stage:

Before this composite flooring was laid down, the audiovisual crew also installed the hearing induction loop wiring that will eventually help folks with hearing aids to understand the actors with greater ease, since they'll be receiving the audio feed from the Technical Booth. The technology was donated by Houston's Center for Audiology, and we're so pleased to have it!

In the Patron Restrooms, tile is being set (and lighting fixtures are appearing, too, by the way!):

(above, the Women's Restroom; below, the Men's Restroom)

And the Backstage Restrooms are being prepped for tiling, too. This pile of subway tile (hey, that rhymes!) sitting in the Green Room will soon be adorning the walls in all of the restrooms.

Painting continues, as "first coats" are applied everywhere.

(above, the Concessions area and light lock; below, the West Lobby looking south)

(below, the Classroom/Rehearsal Room with the stage opening on the right)

Soon, the rolling door will be installed that will cover this opening most of the time.

The Technical Booth received the sliding windows that will allow our stage managers and designers to communicate more easily during load-in and tech.

Finally, the equipment for the solar array started to be delivered this week, so we'll soon see panels on the roof and on the south-facing side of the building. Next week, yet another crew will slice out a section of concrete and dig a hole in front of the building in the street to begin the process to tap the water main. Many parts of the building can't proceed (restrooms, fire sprinklers, etc) without running water. Luckily, the work will be done in the evenings and overnight, so traffic won't be too disrupted on narrow Times Boulevard.

Just a reminder: we're still raising money for the capital campaign, so please consider a donation to help us open this building without any debt. We have about $800,000 left to raise, and every single donation is important. Please tell your friends, family and work contacts that gifts to this campaign are really meaningful! If you happen to work at a larger company, you're often eligible for a matching gift that can enhance your philanthropy, so ask your Human Resources office for details. Many naming/sponsorship opportunities remain; visit MainStreetTheater.com for a list.

As always, thank you for being a part of this wonderful transformation of our MainStage building!

As we get to the half-way point of our dog-days August, here are some new photos from inside the (even warmer) construction site. Happily, this fellow from CenterPoint visited us recently:

...and brought our long-awaited permanent power to the building. The happy result is that, just this afternoon, the air conditioning has been turned on for the first time! This is important, of course, for comfort, but also for the general health of all the new Sheetrock and wood in the building. As Chris, our superintendent, explains it, the interior of the building must cool down a bit and relax before all the mill work can be installed.

Also in preparation for the mill work and tile, much of the interior has been painted this week, which is quite lovely to see!

(above, the soon-to-be-built backstage coffee bar gets gray; below, looking east in the Main Lobby)

(below, looking southeast in the Main Lobby, you can see the fresh Sheetrock, exposed brick and the painted open ceiling. Main Street old-timers will remember the administrative office used to sit in this corner of the building.)

(below, the Stage Support Office on the second floor, ready for paint)

(below, the West Lobby looking north)

Most excitingly, the auditorium (below) has now been painted black (which makes successful photography a challenge!), and the pipe grid and pipe rail (around the perimeter of the room) have been installed! These are the key components that will bring a new level of sophistication to MST's lighting and sound. Our designers will be able to suspend lighting instruments, projectors and speakers wherever they want!

In other news, the telephone lines have been installed, the roof is being prepared for the installation of the solar array, the hearing induction loop is being laid on the auditorium subfloor, and lay-in ceilings are being installed in the Patron Restrooms. Things are moving fast!

Next week: tile work for the restrooms and the new floor for the auditorium!

Happy August! As we enter the last two months of work on the building, here are some updates from around the construction site.

Sheetrocking is almost complete throughout the building! The crew is working on the Front Lobby walls right now, and the cased opening into the West Lobby (which, as you can see, is a good deal higher now). This opening is tricky because (a) the existing masonry wall is pretty brittle, (b) we needed the opening to be higher and a bit more narrow (to accommodate the fire riser room that is just adjacent), and (c) there's a roll-up fire door that will live over it on the Front Lobby side. So, along with all of the other conduits and ducts that help comprise the new building, a lot of planning had to go into how to make this cased opening work.

Later this week the walls of the auditorium (which are completed) will be painted black in preparation for the installation of the large pipe grid which will, very soon, hold our lighting instruments and all manner of other technical items. For example:

A grid like this gives our designers complete freedom to move things around and always have support and electricity. In addition, a lot of the work to install the specialty wiring for the lights and audiovisual components will crank up next week, too.

It has been truly fascinating to watch the progression in this, the heart of the building. I rather like it in its pristine, white-walled state...

But remember just a few months ago...

All of this work has been done in less than five months of demolition and construction!

As I mentioned, the very dusty job of Sheetrocking and then mudding and sanding the walls is almost done.

(above, Dressing Room #1 on the right; below, a bit of original brick about to be Sheetrocked over)

(above, the Classroom/Rehearsal Room; below, the Front Stair)

Interior details are starting to appear, too. Here is Becky standing in the Green Room, next to a wing wall that is inset with some of the old glass blocks from the exterior. This wall frames the backstage "kitchenette" (sink/dishwasher/fridge) that will be built behind where she's standing when the mill workers begin their duties soon.

 

I snuck up on the roof the other day to see what it looks like now that it has been largely completed.

 

Our solar array will be installed here in about three weeks!

Finally, our exterior glass hasn't been delivered yet, but we are close to being able to "seal" the building and crank up the air conditioning, so temporary glass has been installed for the time being. It gives us a good idea of what the front of the building is going to be look like.

Coming up soon: paint, tile for the restrooms, the elevator, and...electricity! Stay tuned...