WEEKLY CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
In an effort to keep the public updated on the progress of completion of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, a weekly summary of activities expected to occur in the weeks to come is presented.  As always, questions can be forwarded to either Executive Director Chuck Still at (860) 510-5000 or Town Hall Restoration Building Committee Chairman Roland Laine at (860) 395-3127.

Week of December 8th through December 12th, 2008
We’re back after missing an Update during the week of Thanksgiving.  Much has happened and there’s a lot to report on and show you:

Septic System.   During the week of December 1st, the Town crew was hard at work connecting the septic system  galleries back to the building.  To do that, the “solids” chamber was installed at the northeast corner of the Center.  That work will continue into the week of December 8th (see photo and description below).
 
Electrical Work.    As of the end of the week of December 1st, we’re still awaiting the power company to bring in the electrical transformer and connect it to the Center’s electrical system. Once that’s accomplished (once requested to install the transformer, CL&P puts the project in the queue and you just hope it’ll happen sooner than later) and some of the remaining wiring of the furnace system is completed, the Center’s heating system can be “fired up” so that the contractor won’t have to use propane tanks to supply heaters to do interior work.
 
Columns.    The two upper balcony columns have been installed (see photo below).  They match the front columns beautifully and really dress the south side of the Center.  It’s these features that begin to give the public a sense of what the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center will look like when completed.  The Town crew is scheduled to do the site work necessary to pour the concrete patio this season in order to allow the installation of the four lower columns under the balcony.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed!

Site Work.  As indicated above, all things point to the Town crew getting all of the site work completed within upcoming weeks, including the pouring of concrete.  If you look at the front of the Center, you’ll notice that the brick patio at the base of the stairs has been removed, uncovering the original concrete walkway that surrounded the original 1911 building.  The photos below compare the building today with photos from the early and middle decades of the twentieth century.

Interior Work.  During the week of December 8th, the interior insulation will be completed and the sheet-rocking will be continued.  If you were to visit the building today, you would notice workmen present from a number of construction disciplines – site work, painters, electricians, structural personnel and others.  It’s great to see the site buzzing with construction activity!

 
Its holiday time at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center!  On Friday evening, December 5th, Old Saybrook will host the annual Saybrook Stroll, the tradition of local merchants staying open late and serving cider and other wintertime goodies to the hundreds of people strolling up and down Main Street.  In an effort to dress up the Kate, Board of Trustees member Ann Nyberg was able to have these beautiful bows placed on two of the original portico columns along with the oversized wreath.  A choir plans to sing on the steps of the Kate during the Stroll.

If you’re in the area, come by and visit us!  Next weekend, Old Saybrook will host the Torchlight Parade.  This event is another annual Town tradition, but this one is a Main Street parade that includes fife and drum corps, floats and other fun things!  The parade gets its name from the burning flambeau torches that many carry as they march.  And the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center is right in the middle of it all with its location on Main Street at the Old Saybrook Town Green!

For those who haven’t seen many historical pictures of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center building, please allow us to show you one or two.  This photo was taken in the early part of the century when Katharine Hepburn was only 10 or 15 years old.  Several things to notice include Old Saybrook’s original high school located in the right rear of the photo, which is now the site of the new Town Hall on the Town Green (right foreground).  Another interesting aspect of this photo is the fact that, in the early part of the century, much of the landscape was conspicuously devoid of trees.  If you look between the Center and the old high school – essentially eastward down Sheffield Street toward Riverside Cemetery and the CT RIver – you’ll notice few trees.
 If you look closely at this 1940’s view of the old Town Hall, you’ll notice the rather small concrete walkway leading from the sidewalk to the front steps.  Compare this photo to today’s photo of the front of the Center (holiday photo above) with the excavated area in front of the steps.  What was uncovered is the original concrete seen in this photo.  Also notice that the top of the small stonework structures to either side of the lower part of the steps was flat.  Because of  damage caused by standing water, peaked caps, seen in the current photo above, were placed on top of both of these structures in years past in order to shed water. Also of note, today’s driveway between Esty’s on the left (then the location of W. H. Smith Plumbing and Heating) and the Center did not exist in the 1940’s. 

Lest you think that we’re overly infatuated with the Center’s septic system,  here is another look at this beautiful waste disposal equipment!  The two boxes in the foreground are the custom-built “solids” chambers that are being buried at the northeast corner of the Center. From these chambers, the subsurface piping continues to the installed gallery system in the Town Green in the distance. The fact that the entire system works via gravity coupled with the flat nature of the site requires very specific and careful installation.  When the box in the foreground was placed in the hole, it was found to be two inches to high, requiring its removal, further excavation and then replacement. For this system, even two inches could result in an improperly operating system!

Also evident in this photo is equipment owned by Mike Evangelisti. Mr. Evangelisti donated his equipment and time to help complete the septic system. A big thank you to Mike. 

If you closely look in the bottom of the hole where the solids chambers are to be placed, you’ll see Old Saybrook Director of Public Works Larry Bonin standing in knee-deep water preparing the bottom of the hole.  Obviously, Old Saybrook’s Department Directors aren’t afraid to do a little bit of hard work! 

At the site of the Center, the ground water level is from 8 to 10 feet below ground level, as seen in this photo.  In order to install the chamber (seen to the above right), most of that water had to be pumped out of the hole via the green hose at left.  Although not tremendously exciting to most, to us it’s VERY exciting to see this work being completed!  It means we’re not far from completion of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.

You’ve seen an number of shots of the south side of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center which faces the Town Green.  The installation of the two columns atop the balcony helps people get an idea of what the Center will look like!  Once the site work and concrete are completed on the lower level patio below the balcony, the four shorter columns will be installed as well.  The Town crew anticipates being able to complete this work within the coming weeks.

This balcony will be used by small musical groups and other performers in order to entertain those on the patio below and out on the Town Green.  The Board of Trustees is hoping to show outdoor movies during the summertime with a screen located  on the second story brick wall to the right of the balcony.

Words and Photos by Torrance Downes, Trustee and Building Committee Committee Member

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Construction Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.