Performing Arts Building Updates

Michael S. Currier Center Construction Update

April 16th


DEW construction boss, Tony Papa, mocked up an exterior wall for the trustees' guided tour last Saturday. Now that all the rafters are in place ("ten houses worth," says Tony) and the roof is nearing completion, it's time to build walls. You start with metal framing (in houses, it's usually 2x4's), followed by exterior gypsum, then brackets to hold three inches of insulation in place, finished with 30,000 or so board feet of lumber stained "driftwood gray." Part of why this building takes a year to build (not two years) is the nifty tools, such as the "cherry picker" shown in action below. It eliminates the need for building and tearing down scaffolding--a process that's as time consuming as it is dangerous. And it saves a lot of time-consuming and dangerous climbing, such as the two trips most rafters required for sizing (up), cutting (down) and installation (up again). The following sequence of photos gives you a basket's-eye view of the east side of the building from floor level to roof--roughly forty vertical feet. Only the last eight are really scary, but you didn't hear it from me.