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.

As of February 5th
This construction update will show that a tremendous amount of work has been done in the last week and a half.  Finish features are being installed that are making the KHCAC look like a cultural arts center!  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, this week’s report will consist of mostly pictures:

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Door from Lobby

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Doors

These two photographs show the doorway openings that will connect the audience chamber, or house, to the new south addition lobby.  The photo at left is the view into the house from the new lobby while the photo at right shows the two door openings as seen from the balcony.  Although the opening in the third door (from right) will be used, the door at right will be the primary entrance.

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Rigging

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Pin Rail

These photographs show a truly unique feature of the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.  For several reasons, the Building Committee made the decision to install a manual rigging system similar to what would have been used in the original 1911 theatre. Although not the modern automatic electric winch system that exists in many modern theatres and performing arts centers today, it’s one that works well and is consistent with the historically-designated building.  Such manual systems, although not that common anymore, do exist in some older historic facilities.  For students that will attend educational programs at “The Kate”, operation of a manual rigging system presents a unique educational opportunity that most would not get to experience.  If they pursue the arts as a career– as backstage personnel – they will have had the experience of working with such a unique and historic rigging system, giving them a “leg up” over those who have not.  Remember, the American theatre is a proud and longstanding institution where tradition and history is a core value.

In the photo at left, one can see a series of pullies hung from steel rafters that will allow steel pipes  connected to ropes to be raised above and lowered to the stage. Such pipes, or “battens”, will be where the theatrical lights, curtains and scenery will be hung.  The  ropes run down the far wall and are tied off on the numerous wood “pins”connected to the frame at right, which is bolted to the floor, much like the sail rigging system on the “tall ships” of yesteryear.

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Cat Walk

This photo shows the steel structure of the ceiling area that will house theatrical lighting which will light the stage.  These lights will be focused from a “cat walk” accessed from the attic above.  An opening in the technical booth located in the balcony will have a ladder allowing technical personnel to get up into the attic and access this lighting area if the need arises during a performance.

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Booth

This photo shows the technical booth in the balcony enclosed in sheetrock.  Work has yet to be done to raise the level of the floor in a way which will allow the space between balcony chair rows to be widened in order to provide for more leg room than existed in the original 1911 building.  People nowadays must be bigger than they were back in the early 1900’s both in width and in length as more seats existed in the balcony when constructed in 1911. Either that or we’re just more concerned about comfort in “The Kate”.

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Elevator

These photographs show two views of the Main Street entrance door to the new south addition lobby.  A second major door to this lobby will open onto the patio that flanks the Town Green (in left wall, right photo).  The large, custom-built window above the doorway, to be installed shortly, will display a grand chandelier.  The photo at right shows the doorway to Main Street as seen from the lower lobby with its elevator core in the right foreground.  The elevator installation continues and should be done in several weeks.

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Pin Rail from Back

If you were standing in the backstage workshop addition behind the stage area at “stage right”, you’d be able to look through the new opening cut through the original brick exterior wall that allows scenery and other large equipment to be brought from this area to the stage.  At right and just out of view is a second-story garage door that allows for the loading in of large equipment and materials from the outside of the building to stage level.  Through this opening, fitted with a roll-down door for use during performances, you can see the “pins” of the manual rigging system on the stage-right wall to which we referred above.  The black sacks at lower right are curtains and other materials that will be hung using the rigging system.  The brick walls seen in this photo are all part of the original 1911 structure.

Text and photos by Torrance Downes, Trustee and Building Committee Member

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 October 20 through October 27, 2008
Slate Roofing. Within the upcoming week, contractors will be completing the installation of the slate shingles on the new roofs.  The slate, acquired from a mine in Vermont, was matched to the existing slate roof in both color and texture.  Interestingly, the use of artificial slate would have been more expensive than the “real thing” that is being used.  In addition to being more economical, the choice was a result of wanting to keep the authenticity of the building given its placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

Septic System.  The new septic system, planned for placement under the town green, is undergoing final engineering reviews with the final orders for materials being made this week.  Keep an eye on the Town Green:  installation will be commenced and completed within the next 30 to 45 days.

Exterior Grading and Site Work.  Exterior site work including the south addition patio/landscape beds and the front portico entrance patio will likely be commenced the week after next (week of October 28, 2008).  This work was scheduled to be undertaken when the exterior of the building was completed and “buttoned up”.

HVAC and Electrical Work. Work on the extensive HVAC system serving the Center (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system) will be continued in the upcoming week with completion expected the following week (week of October 28, 2008).

Interior Work. Once the exterior of the Center is “buttoned up”, the contractors will move inside and begin the process of patching and repairing of the original plaster walls of the Center’s hall.  The contractors will also begin the laborious process of building all of the wood trim that will exist in the Center.

Facade of New Addition

Façade of south addition (left with balcony) and the two-story Center office complex (lower level with windows) and the new dressing rooms at stage level (upper level, brick with no windows).  A landscaped patio will be constructed in the dirt area located below the balcony.  The landscaped patio will open to the Town Green located to the left of the photo.

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, Rear View

Rear view of new two-story addition from the new Town Hall including the gray structure housing the mechanical equipment serving the heating and airconditioning system.  The second story area with the three windows will serve as workshop/storage area and is located immediately to the rear of the stage located in the original structure.  The door opening on the second level to the left leads from the dressing rooms located immediately off the stage.

From Main Street, a view of the façade of the south addition and balcony serving as the main entrance to the Center.  A new elevator will be located in this addition.  The pallisade windows in the new façade were designed to match the original windows which are still located on the interior wall within the new addition.  The second story brick addition to the right of the balcony houses the stage-level dressing rooms with offices and a ticket window located below.

Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

One of the challenges of renovating any old building is locating the modern heating and air conditioning equipment (HVAC), particularly in a theatre, where you want to move a large volume of air quietly. For the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, architect Tom McDonald put this equipment in a gabled addition above and to the rear of the stage behind a heavily insulated wall. Unlike the rest of the building, this addition will be clad not in brick, but in zinc, a natural element that patinas to a soft, dark grey as it ages. As you can see in the picture, the zinc is almost complete with only louvers and slate on the roof needed to finish this part of the construction. Ultimately, louvers will fill the large opening in the middle of the addition, but right now, with them missing, it looks nothing quite so as an enormous dog house.  Which is probably what we’ll end up calling it.

Architects' Rendering of the New Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, CT

Soon this is what you’ll see when you head down Main Street in Old Saybrook,Connecticut, a beautifully restored and expanded theatre. The building erected in 1910 has National Historic Landmark status.This will be a “gem” of a place with no obstructed views, the best lighting,the best sound and entertainment to enhance the state’s shoreline. There will be about 230 seats inside. Outside there will be a pull-down movie screen on the exterior of the building so that during the summer months there will be film. Patrons can spread out their blankets and picnics on a warm summer night on the nearby by green. We can’t wait to have you as our guest!

See You At “the Kate!”
Ann Nyberg, Trustee, KHCAC