At night

Here are a couple of shots of Thompson House at night, from Tuesday evening:

Nearly finished

The renovations to Thompson House exterior are nearly finished.

Painters are touching up and finishing tight spots.  Interior storm windows are installed throughout the building. A few more slate shingles are yet to go on the roof.

Quite unexpectedly, we also found painters in the basement this week, sprucing up the student lounge.  I am grateful indeed!

Yet to come: exterior screens, new drapes and blinds, exterior lighting fixtures.

Compare this photo with the exteriors from yesterday:

My north windows before the interior storm window was installed.

In the Dean’s administrative suite. You can barely tell that new interior storms have been installed.

The Dean’s office during painting and interior storm window installation.

The north gable.

A veiw from the west.

My office is noticeably cooler, even in this heat, thanks to the new storm windows.  The recital hall, minus curtains, sounds and looks like a gazillion bucks.

Here’s a short video of the recital hall, taken Wednesday afternoon after we put the room back together.

Meanwhile, room 206 is being converted back to a teaching studio after having been a classroom for the last decade or more.  That room was painted yesterday.  New carpet will be installed on Tuesday.  Data drops were finished this week.  Furniture arrives next week too.  And then Martha Hart moves in to her new space!

 

Renovation update

We’re nearly done!

The external work on Thompson House is close to complete.  The painters are on final coats.  New slate tiles are going up to the roof today to replace damaged tiles. The adjunct faculty office area has a new copper roof.  New insulation has been blown into all the exterior walls.  Much exterior wood has been replaced.

Most noticeable for us is the interior storm windows that are being installed this week.  Many windows are now sealed.  This will help our temperature control and humidity control – a boon for us in the winter months, and a help for these pianos.

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Renovation update July 18

In the two weeks I was gone for vacation, most of the wood replacement has been completed.  A new fence is around the AC cooling tower.  The porch has a new copper roof.  Painters are priming a second coat.  The front doors are receiving a new coat of varnish.  Insulation has been blown into all the walls.

Later this week the stucco guys will be here, and then the interior storm windows go up.  Painting will start in earnest later this week as well.

Holes where insulation was blown into exterior walls.

The back porch door is strengthened and hung on new hinges.

The edge of a copper rool and the copper flashing.

The old entry to the cellar got a new aluminum covering.

Two more shots

Power-washing is underway today on the east, north, and west sides of the building.  And carpenters are busily at work on the south side of the building, replacing old wood.

I’m told that the electrical work will be postponed until we have a new campus master plan, but that the south porch is receiving a new copper roof!  And I have on some authority that we are receiving new drapes in the public rooms (recital hall and classrooms).

Two shots from today:

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Renovation update

In the two weeks since I last posted a construction update, several projects have moved forward.

Much of the wood that needed replacing has now been changed out.

The painters are here, and are sanding and filling as necessary before the painting begins.

The privacy fence is gone from around the air-conditioner tower.

Work has commenced on a new roof for the south porch.

Opera Theatre is over, so the tents are gone and the recital hall is now our own again.

The recital hall minus all the catering equipment.

Sanded wood on the font porch.

One of my office windows, now sanded to within an inch of its life. This is, of course, 101-year-old wood.

The west gable.

The kitchen porch.

Ground zero for all the work that is taking place.

The recital hall door.

New wood on the front porch column bases.

Bare window frames at the Dean’s office.

The east gable, with new wood.

The patio.

This contraption has trundled around the building more than I can say.

Renovations update

The crew working on the half-timbered walls is still here.  They have a ways to go before the painters can start their work, but progress is apparent.  Our back-porch door is gone right now for major refurbishment.  The third-story timbers are being replaced as needed.  And the work continues!

That’s a load of new wood on the 3rd floor west wall.

The back porch is missing its door!

Thompson House renovation

One week ago, we commenced an external renovation of Thompson House, the venerable home of the Department of Music, and the oldest building on the Webster University campus in Webster Groves.

The renovation will fix and repair sashes and eaves and ornamental woodwork, prime and paint the entire three-story house, correct HVAC issues, provide new landscaping, repair roofs and gutters, and generally return the house inasmuch as possible to its original external condition.  All of this is being managed by a project manager in Academic Affairs, a general contractor, and only slight interference from me.

I’ll endeavor to post weekly photos as this process goes on through the summer!

In the past week, exterior woodwork is being cleaned, patched, and in some cases replaced.

A north-facing window frame, with old hinges removed and the wood filled.

Windows to my office with new wood on the bottom.

Plaster fixes in wooden frames.

The third-floor west gable hasn’t yet been touched.

More patches on the half-timbered facade.

Saint Louis schools

We hosted last evening an awards and recognition program for the music teachers in the Saint Louis Public Schools.  This celebration was made possible by the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts at Webster University, the Parsons Blewett Memorial Fund, and the donors to the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation.

Great joy is always present when music teachers gather.  Such was the case last night.  A catered reception, about 30 teachers, several Webster folk, awards and recognitions – all contributed to the festive atmosphere.

I’m delighted to see our music building hosting these events, especially in the 100th anniversary season of this old house.

Hallway overhaul

Over the last few weeks, the 100-year-0ld Thompson House, our music building, has received some sprucing up.  Paint, work on doors and windows, redecoration – all point toward a season of celebration of this grand building.

Here’s a view of the main entry hall, adjacent to the grand staircase, and our display of historical photos of the house: