Tour capacity is limited, so an RSVP is required – along with closed-toe shoes. Email RSVP@oldtownschool.org with your name, number of people and a date, below.

Tours are available at 12 noon on these dates:
Wednesday, September 14
Wednesday, September 28
Wednesday, October 12

All tours start promptly at 12 noon and last about 25 minutes. Meet inside the lobby at 4544 N. Lincoln at 11:55am.

Support our building campaign now. Your support will be matched dollar-for-dollar thanks to our $200,000 Board Challenge!

Progress
The face of the Old Town School’s new building is taking shape as we make progress on the exterior. In this photo, taken a week or so ago from the roof of the School’s existing building, you can see the entrance (lower left), the beginning of fine brickwork at the base, and where all the windows are on the third and second floors.

The new building was designed to echo the architecture of the School’s existing building, with its tall windows and black terra cotta tiling. These effects will be achieved partly by steel lintels that are being installed ahead of the brickwork on the front. Steelworkers are working on the lintels now, working off of the platforms in the front. So sparks are flying again! Masons will use the same platforms to work their way up the face with brick.

As the interior is built out, there is less and less space to work with inside. Along with lintels being lifted and the front stair base delivered and dragged down Lincoln Avenue, drywall is being delivered through side windows on the second floor. This complex array of street and alley activity will continue for the next couple of weeks.

The Old Town School expects to open the new building in January, 2012.

New Building Progress - August 29

The exterior walls are brick and a kind of corrugated steel on three sides. Coordinated carefully, “swing stages” allow crews working on the exterior to pace their work from the bottom up: brick goes first, then the crews install the corrugated steel. If you look at the south wall, much of the corrugated steel has been installed. The front facade will be brick, big windows and art. A little bit of the facade design can be seen now on the north side where Dreamtown meets the new building. The main facade part of the job will materialize over the next month.

The interior of the new building is being constructed from the third floor down to the first so crews can keep moving and stay out of each other’s way. The first floor is last, partly because the space that will contain an ornamental glass staircase is being used as a staging area for the masonry operation, and partly because we don’t want to put in glass until we’re mostly done!

Old Town School project progress end of June

For the next two or three weeks, the job focuses on masonry and ductwork. Exterior walls will go up as the building becomes enclosed. “Swing stages” are hanging off the outside of the building as some walls are built from the outside, some from the inside. We’re also expecting a major delivery of heavy rooftop mechanical equipment within the next two weeks.

The photo here is on the second floor, looking into the dance hall/ performance space on Monday, June 13. The shell of the room is taking shape! The room shape to the right will house much of the equipment for the hall.

Strike News: Since June 6, the Sprinkler Fitters had not yet settled their strike, but pickets were no longer on site. They apparently reached an agreement yesterday pending member ratification, and were not picketing anywhere as of midnight, according to their website.

A view inside: second floor dance/performance hall

Most of the other trades negotiated contracts last year, but the Sprinkler Fitters’ contract ran out May 31. The Fire Protection subcontractor for the Old Town School project, Nova Fire Protection, has an agreement to have the National Fire Sprinkler Association Contractors’ Negotiating Committee negotiate a contract with the Union.

So that’s how it works.

While this goes on, there’s not going to be much progress in actual construction. Work on the other side of the street — fundraising, planning the opening, planning for the Folk & Roots Festival, Summer Camp, classes for the summer and new programs for 2012 — continues.

Members of Sprinkler Fitters Local 281 Picket the Job Site

Next Week: May 23 – May 27
Framing, fireproofing, ductworkand piping for the Heating/Ventilation/Air Cooling system AND – the masons mobilize. On Monday, two big silos will be delivered and set up in the space that’s open to the first and second floor. Eventually, that space will contain a spectacularly folky staircase. While the brick exterior goes up, it will be the staging area for mixing mortar. If you visit the Old Town School parking lot by the trailer, you can see mock-ups that show how the bricked front and sides will be put together.

Construction progress as of May 17, 2011

That green mat holds the coils in place and helps insulate. The orange cable is the coil itself. On the second floor you can see the outline of the dance hall/performance space. It’s the underlying frame and base for the sprung-wood dance floor that will top it.

Activities for the next couple of weeks:
• Concrete pours to be complete for the 3rd floor – cement mixers in the alley Friday or early next week.
• Masonry begins – we’ll welcome a new crew.
• Iron workers to complete roof detailing – if the weather’s dry, they’ll be up there.
• Crane picker in the parking lot to deliver materials to build the mechanical systems – most likely early next week.

With the steel up, foundation complete and masonry started, it’s the way to get the heavy roof curbs and other elements to the site without
1. Closing down Lincoln Avenue or 2. Evacuating all the buildings

This crane picks materials off of the trucks and moves them down the alley to the roof of the new building. They tried it last week, but it was too windy to be safe. So today (Monday) and possibly tomorrow, there will be a crane in the city lot during work hours (8am to 4:30pm).

Other activities this week:
• Concrete pours for floors 2 and 3 – pump truck and cement mixers behind Dreamtown and Starbucks during the day. Probably later in the week.
• Radiant heat coils installed on the ground floor.
• More to come

Photo Op: A few days ago we handed over guitars, a mandolin, a ukulele and harmonicas to the Iron Worker crew, and took this picture before work started with the crane. At least two of them play — can you guess which? The rock and roll jokes were free-flying as Erin English and Andy Moir worked on the roof of Lincoln Avenue West to try and capture the moment. Credit for this photo goes to Erin English.

Construction Progress:
The iron-worker team is getting the decking ready for pouring concrete. The foundation walls are being completed at the same time – more concrete pouring at the foundation. Masonry has begun. Concrete will be pumped to the second and third floors as the iron workers complete detailing.

It’s going to be a little tight on Lincoln Avenue this week during the working hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The big crane will leave the site and a smaller crane will work from Lincoln, getting the last of the steel up and in place. This means the sidewalk will be closed for a few days, and Lincoln will be down to one lane, with crews directing traffic, during the day.

We sincerely appreciate your patience in the short term, and hope you share our excitement for what’s to come!

Here's where we finished last week.

The weather is supposed to to be good for building, after Sunday thunderstorms pass. (Steel construction does not happen in a thunderstorm!)

Monday, 2/28, expect more detailing. Tuesday 3/1 look for steel deliveries and a little congestion on Lincoln Avenue for part of the day. Tuesday/Wednesday, the top beams in the back part of the structure will start to be placed and detailed. By that time there should be more pictures and a new update.

Stay tuned . . .

Banging Trusses into Place