Heagney Theater Floor Plan...finally!
It was brought to my attention recently that not everyone shared my familiarity with the theater drawings, and some of you had NO idea what the floor plan looked like at all! Let me share those with you now. Below are a few pictures I whipped up using drawings by the architect Mackey Mitchell Associates. I labled rooms and space of interest.
The drawing below shows the lower level, and where we happen to be working currently. The drawings don't line up well, but understand that the lower level art lab and prop storage rooms are lined up directly underneath the three classrooms and music room up on the main level. Both drawings are oriented with West towards the top. So directly to the right of these drawings, Big Bend runs top to bottom. I guess I could have DRAWN Big Bend, but then I'd be taking time away from other important tasks-- like pumping water out of foundation holes.
If anyone has questions about any other rooms or space they notice on the drawings, just send me an email.
Photo Round-Up: 10/16/06 - 10/20/06
Of Mud and Men
Monday, October 16, 2006 - Torrential rain, a steady rain really, and in the end, only 1 and two tenths inches in the rain gauge. But this was a soaking. The rain fell all day long on the trailer, and my imagination provided me with the image of a pond where the Heagney basement should be. A crackling fire here in the trailer would have brightened the mood a bit. Instead, a baseboard heater took the chill away and smoothed the feeling of anxiety we in construction feel before slabs are poured. Erosion and deposition. Two words you do not want to hear after deep excavation and before concrete. The site soils are exposed to the constant tap tapping of giant waterdrops, and all we could do was reschedule and prepare for pumping-- a lot of pumping.
Tuesday, October 17, 2007 - Mud. A steady mud. A deep plastic mud. One step on site and your boots disappear. In fact, this is a step-out-of-your-boots mud. We're all laced up tight, but we have to wonder how our boots will ever be the same.
This week our focus is on steel erection, foundation waterproofing and a concrete slab on the basement floor. Only the steel can proceed. The concrete will have to wait until we can get sufficient compaction. The concrete slab is critical, so the mud occupies our every thought until we sleep. At night I have a dream and I see one of my nice fresh pressed oxford shirts floating in a sea of brown mud not unlike a chocolate milk shake. The shirt floats perfectly flat on the surface, its arms outstretched without a speck of mud on the front. I need the shirt, and as I step in to retrieve it, my foot lands on the very front of the shirt and carries it underneath the surface until it disappears and I am up to my waist in chocolate frappe.
On Friday, our testing engineers told us we weren't nearly dry enough to proceed with our basement floor-- we didn't have the compaction we needed. It's not the news I wanted to hear, so I did my own testing in a corner of the basement. This involved a technical method certain construction professionals have been using for years-- the boot test. With a perfect blend of force and gentle prodding, I used my boot to apply pressure to the surface of the dirt (mud) to test for the presence of subsurface hydrolics (water). In some areas I had to back off quickly before putting all my weight into what I could only describe as deep oatmeal. Soft muckiness is not compatible with concrete basement floors. One day of rain, a morning of hard drizzle, and abnormally cold temperatures has turned a rain day into a rain week. Steel erection and waterproofing are proceeding as planned however.
October 9 through 13, 2006
Phase One of foundations is complete! The Heagney is beginning to look like the collection of classrooms and theater it will soon become. Window and door openings are now exposed in the concrete foundation walls of the lower level, providing a suggestion of the building's final shape. Over most of this exposed concrete will be a decorative brick veneer. Soil backfill will cover the rest.
This week, plumbers and electricians are busily installing their underground pipes and conduit under the floor of the soon to be poured concrete slab. You may not see them from the building or road, but they're in there.
It has come to my attention that I am not the only one who stares into this hole trying desparately to imagine what this will all look like. A very well written essay by a student here at Nerinx was given to me lately with the idea I might find what she had written to be thoughtful. The piece certainly agrees with my ruminative side, so I thought I'd publish it here.
Paragraph about Discovery
8/28/06
by Andi G.
“Today I decided to sit by the construction site in front of the school. Our assignment is to discover something during our time of leisure. I decided that there isn’t anything newer around than our construction. It’s weird to stare at a hole in the ground and try to envision the building it will become. I’m forced to wonder how long after I’m gone will this addition be used? Will future students know the anticipation and excitement surrounding the fund-raising and construction? Then I think about all the students before me. What was it like to enter the new gymnasium after the old one burned down? Taking time to study the new surroundings can not only build a wider perception of our world, but it can also help us attain a better appreciation of our past. This is what I’ve discovered sitting beside a massive hole in the ground.”
A massive hole indeed!
Photo Round-Up: 10/2/06 - 10/6/06
