Thursday January 12, 2006. Deconstruction of the interior walls of the old Wet Edge Gallery/Blue Dog Framers back rooms are being torn down in order to make way for the new handicap accessible restrooms, the new elevator and staircase.  

Seen in the picture above, workers from Ainsworth Benning Construction out of Spearfish, SD are seen tearing down the existing walls and hauling anything of little or no value away to make room for the new construction.  

According to Jim O'Grady, the Historic Homestake Opera House Society's Executive Director, he is very pleased that Ainsworth Benning was the successful bidder for the project, and Jim also said he hopes when people see that work is once again under way on the restoration and new construction, they too will get excited and help in any way they can to assist the Society in raising the needed funds to complete this magnificent project.

Friday, January 14, 2006 - At the Lead Area Chamber of Commerce annual banquet held at the Golden Hills Inn, in Lead, The Historic Homestake Opera House Society was presented with the prestigious"Lead The Way" award (pictured above). The caption reads "The "Lead The Way" award is given to a business that has demonstrated that they believe in the future of Lead by making a significant investment in their business through expansion or improvement".

A ballot was sent out to all the Lead Chamber members, and obviously the Opera House garnered the majority vote. It is awesome to be recognized in this way.

Monday January 16, 2006 - Items uncovered during demolition and work in progress:
1. Demolition has begun and is complete to a large extent on the first floor. Demolition of the ceiling is underway which has exposed the plaster ceiling above. The Owner will document the plaster ceiling in a timely manner as not to delay construction. There are portions of the plaster ceiling missing, it was decided that those areas will be patched with 1 layer of Type X gypsum board. Demolition has also begun on the second floor, however, not to as great an extent as the
first floor.

2. During demolition on the first floor, it was discovered that a concrete support ledger for a fireplace, which has since been removed, exists under the floor and projects partially into the elevator shaft. This portion of the fireplace concrete support slab, which is approximately
8” thick will need to be removed for the construction of the elevator shaft. The floor joists are currently framed around the fireplace support. The double joists running east and west that will be cut to accommodate the elevator shaft will be pocketed into the elevator shaft. Also the
perpendicular double joist running north and south will be hung on the elevator shaft ledger using a custom hanger.
3. There is no hard wood floor as expected on the first floor underneath the existing flooring. As a result we will begin prepping the douglas fir sub floor which exists to receive new carpet. This also affects the installation of the tile on the first floor. Due to the fact that there will be carpet in lieu of hardwood floors on the first floor there will no longer be a need to remove the sub floor and sub floor sleepers where the tile will be installed in the toilet rooms on the first floor.

Wednesday February 08, 2006 - Crane crews from Ainsworth Benning Construction prepare to remove the old electrical supports from the side of the theatre as well as remove the old damaged fire escapes from the side of the building to make way for the new fire escapes which will be up to code.

Core drilling through the concrete wall of the boiler room is being done by Checker Electric to make way for the new electrical service to enter the building. It was discovered during the drilling that the walls are 37" thick, and are filled with rock 2" to 4" in diameter.

With the demolition 89% completed, new walls are being put in place, the electrical and plumbing crews are hard at work and sheet rocking is beginning today.

Friday February 24, 2006 - Carpenters, plumbers and electricians are busy at work now that the demolition is mostly completed. In the following photo's you can see the elevator shaft which should be completed by Monday the 27th. You can also see the new walls being framed in. The plumbers and electricians are working to get their services completed so the sheet rockers can get to work. Everything still looks like it should be ready by the time we kick off our 2006 summer series of performances in May.

 

 

Monday April 17, 2006 - As you can see in the following photo's the walls are almost done being sheet rocked, taping is underway and the cement board for the tile is being put in place.

Monday the 17th continued - The following photo's show the new steps leading up to the stage as well as a new set of steps leading from the stage down into the dressing room area. For historic accuracy, photo's taken from the Opera House book were consulted for placement as well as dimensions. The final photo in this series is a picture of the new switch gear Checker Electric is installing. This will provide all the new electrical in sufficient quantities to power the entire Opera House and Recreation Center, as well as allow us to go from 5 meters to just one. The new switch gear is being installed in the boiler room and all the exterior wiring is now underground.

Friday May 19, 2006 -In the following photo's you will notice the progress of the installation of the new fire escapes. The construction of these fire escapes meet with all the current life safety and building codes and are constructed much sturdier than the previous ones. With the new codes dictating how long and how steep the stairs can be, we had to re-configure the design.

May 19, 2006 continued - The new handicap accessible restrooms are showing progress. The next three photo's give you a look at the floor and wall tile which was selected to replicate the tile in the Opera House lobbies as well as that which surrounded the pool and a glimpse of the new lighting which will illuminate the toilet rooms.

Work on the installation of the elevator continues quite nicely. Today the elevator platform was put in place and I actually could have ridden the elevator from top to bottom. For safety reasons though I chose to wait until the actual cab is installed. Plastering of all the joints and seams of the remaining walls is close to completion. Dan Quinn from Spearfish is now busy at work applying paint to the finished walls. As soon as he's done I'll insert some photo's.

Thursday, August 3, 2006 - On Wednesday July 26th a reporter from KELO Land TV cane to the Opera House and did a 20 minute interview with me and then shot about an hours worth of footage of the Opera House. This story aired Tuesday August 01, 2006 on Eye On KELO Land. It was a great publicity piece and great thanks go out to KELO Land for there coverage at this crucial time in our restoration.

Some of the workers have really come to believe that there are spirits alive and well in the Opera House and Recreation Center. Some days while working alone they swear up and down that they hear things, feel strange sensations, or have tools and materials moved from where they left them. We all hope that whatever spirits are here will appreciate the work we are doing and enjoy their new surroundings.

$$$$Opera House got a couple of good shots in the Arm$$$$

Thanks go out to the Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation for granting us $150,000 payable at $50,000 a year for 3 years. To the John T. Vucurevich Foundation for a $350,000 grant. And to First Western Bank of Deadwood for pledging $25,000 to be paid at $5,000 per year. We are now in hopes the City of Lead will step up to the plate and recognize the great value in completing the Opera House and how it is, and will continue to be the center for economic growth and stabilization for the City.

  Stay tuned to this page for new photo's and information on this ongoing project.