Downtown Streetscaping - Tuesday June 29, 2010

Grafton's Main Street 'Streetscape Phase II' started last Monday. It's been a bit dusty and noisy and congested down here with all the work. Even with the slight inconvenience, it's wonderful to see progress in downtown.

(This project has, so far, produced at least a couple of good stories - and you know how I like a good story.... This is the first of at least 3 updates related to the construction goings-ons...)

These first pictures I'm posting are after the old sidewalks had been jack-hammered and ripped up. These almost-complete views are a reminder that this whole mess will be well worth the effort in a very short time.

This picture is from Tuesday (yesterday), very early in the morning (you can see the mist in the hills in the far background) and half of the section they were pouring is already poured and ready for finishing:

Grafton's Builder's Service & Supply had one of their concrete trucks here at 6am and the guys of R&R Construction, who are doing this phase of the sidewalk replacement, were here even earlier.

This next shot is from later in the day; the concrete is still green (raw), but not goopy:

New sidewalks!

Check out this post over at the Taylor County Blog Project for an old post about the first phase of sidewalk replacement.

This second phase means that we will soon have classy streetlights on this end of town, too.

Progress is good. Messy (even goopy), sometimes, but good.

Stairs

Here's a shot of the stairs (PC's camera; mine's still not working) during construction.
They don't go anywhere yet:


But thanks to these guys, Charlie and his son Chuck (Charlie's wife keeps a blog here), they go all they way up:


The stairs are sure a lot easier to go up and down than the ladder.

Expansion - Construction Progress

There is progress, but you can't see it here because my camera quit working.
A few highlights:

• Stairs! Yay! Thanks to Carpenters Charlie and Chuck we have stairs in the new addition! We've gotten so used to going up and down the ladder, it's going to take a few days to remember to use them.
• Tile in the bathrooms. No walls or anything else, but the tile is laid and the grout will finish it off by Monday.
• Windows. The windows are now installed in the first floor, too.

So, yes, definite progress!

Now that we're so close to having the first floor usable, there's some progress on getting some good music on the event schedule, too, so keep checking back....

Adding On: Progress Pics

Ridgepole construction is almost complete in this picture:



Here's the "topping off" flag:





'Topping off' is explained well in this article:
http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/news/stories/topoff/
“Topping off” a building is an old tradition among construction workers. When the topmost structural element of a multi-story building is in place, workers signify the occasion by placing a small evergreen tree or flag on top. The new ARC building has both. Often, construction workers sign the last steel beam before it is hoisted into place.
"According to some traditions, the tree symbolize that construction so far has occurred without injury or death to the workers, while others say it provides good luck to the future inhabitants.
"Scott L. Melnick wrote in the December, 2000, issue of Modern Steel Construction that the origin of the practice is uncertain but likely traces back thousands of years to either Scandinavians or Germans, who often built with the plentiful evergreen trees scattered throughout northern Europe. Some legends, Melnick said, even date the practice back to early Romans. "

I've seen PC 'top off' quite a few buildings. He's used both evergreens and flags. It's almost Memorial Day in the Memorial City, so the flag seems appropriate.

The roof rafters begin (yep, the flag is still there, just hard to see):

Adding On: Progress Pics

Adding On: Progress Pics

Second floor rafters:

Looking up:

Stairs:

Excavation

Second Floor Beams

The 3 main beams for the second floor:


Off the ground where they belong:

Adding On: First First Floor Framing

PC builds sections of the wall on the floor and then lifts each piece into place.








It's almost starting to look like something.
Wait until I post pictures of the big dig on the hill! That got people curious, because all of a sudden it's apparent that this is no small addition....

Adding On: Progress

(As usual, I'm at least a couple of weeks behind with the pictures.)

Window framing, the first of the wood structure, from the inside looking out:




And from the outside looking in:

Interior Picture

This is a relatively new picture (2 days ago?):


The sign in the window is the sign that will hang over the sidewalk. It will go up soon; I'll take pictures. There's still a little bit of construction clutter, but it's focused around the front door now and PC is finishing up with all the interior trim. The finish work is time consuming, but the effect is worth it.

Progress in Pictures

"Random Pictures" would be an appropriate title, too, but "Progress..." sounds much better, huh?

Up until last weekend, the toilet sat in the middle of the bathroom floor:


And then I snapped this glamorous shot of PC setting the toilet (yes, I said setting and not sitting; he's sitting on a bucket):

If you look closely, you'll see that he's eating an ice cream bar. Eating ice cream over a brand new toilet is just one of the many fun things we've been able to do in preparation for opening.
It's a very nice toilet, too; it's one of those 'whooshy' fast-flushers (that's the scientific term).

Here's the view from down the street:

The ubiquitous mess in the parking lot is fast approaching its final days; parking lot clean-up is scheduled at the end of the 'To-do to Open' List.

The sawhorses in the entryway are nearing an end, too. There's some final trim work to do that requires sawing and that's about it (finally).


However, we still have the occasional pile of miscellaneous tools/parts. Fortunately, these jumbles are mostly growing in the closets:


That's it for now.
More soon.

Countertops

The cabinet bases were built and ready for counter tops:


Here's the first piece:


Second piece:


It really made a difference in the feel of the building to have finished counter tops.


They look good, too:


There's still a bit of painting left to do (the section around the front door inside and touch-ups), wood staining and sealing, and trim finishing and caulking.

It's coming together.
Yesterday the espresso machine was installed. And, as usual, I don't have the pictures ready to put up yet.
Next time.

Menu Board Installation

I posted the opening special last time. Now I want to post the pictures of the chalkboard installation.
Here's the first one:


The board on the bottom is notched so that the bottom of the blackboard can sit right down inside it.

A little to the right:


Keep in mind that these things are at least a half inch thick and weigh well over 100 pounds each!



These are all old slate boards out of the old high school!



The very nice woman who now owns the old building gave them to us! I haven't asked for her permission to use her name, but I don't think she'd mind if I thanked her here, publicly. It was a very kind gesture on her part and it just seems right: A piece of old Grafton in our new coffee house.



Yes, we do have counter tops.
Yes, they look great.
No, I don't have pictures uploaded yet.
Yes, I will get to it soon.

Menu Board - Opening Special

I have a ton of random pictures, but I figured you were probably sick of them by now.
Instead of randomness, here's something that speaks for itself:


Progress!
I have a ton of pictures of cabinet building, equipment, menu board installation, random jumbled messes, pizza crust, and the bathroom, but the "Opening Special" is the closest I have to proof of "very close to opening."

The countertops will be installed today! I'll take a ton of pictures (and try to post them before they get old).

More Random Picture

Here's a quick post in the spirit of trying to keep up with the blog even if it means posting old pictures:



These next ones are a little bit newer; the saws are a good representation of what is happening inside (I will post new inside pictures soon):






Here's where the wood scraps go:





The countertop comes next week and the espresso machine will be here the week of the 8th!

I've had an incredible response to the tiny 'Now Taking Applications' ad in the Mountain Stateman (Thank you!).

I also have a new sign that will go up this weekend with others soon to follow....