ACT III Construction Update

ACT III REMODELING PROJECT - CONSTRUCTION UPDATES

Check back here often for updates on our construction progress.

12/6/2021: Adding sheet rock
The new community room -- which will be a space for meetings, receptions, play readings, etc. -- is beginning to take shape!

12/3/2021: New Audience Entrance
This week we poured concrete for the new entrance plaza. (Sending huge thanks to Starfire Lumber for the donation of those beautiful beams holding up our new entryway!)

11/22/2021: Adding Insulation
This week crews installed insulation throughout the lobby area, just in time for our colder weather! Pictured below is the new men's restroom. Hopefully we can turn the heat back on in the building soon. . . .

11/15/2021: Reinstalling steel beams above stage
We brought out the big crane! We are reinstalling the steel beams (that hold our stage rigging) in their new higher position.

10/15/2021: Raising the Tower
The tower over our stage is being raised, to accommodate the new stage rigging system required for our higher proscenium opening. (That enlarged proscenium opening is needed now that the back row of seats is higher.)

Temporary supports for the existing opening while new beams are put in place.

Prepping for the raising of the tower.

9/23/2021:

The new front facade and audience entrance (in progress!)

9/15/2021: Concrete Pouring

Pouring and smoothing the concrete for our new seating risers.

Concrete done (but not yet dry!)

8/20/2021:

The "pop-out" on the front of the building is to house the relocated stairs to the light/sound booth. This will provide better access for our tech volunteers AND create some additional space in the lobby for our audience.

Almost ready for concrete pouring.

What will be the womens' restroom.

8/13/2021:

The framing on the new lobby restrooms (on north side of building) has begun.

The foam blocks are secured in place. Next comes rebar and concrete.

7/27/2021:

The high density foam for the new seating risers has arrived!

Putting together the new seating risers is a little like building with Lego blocks!

6/22/2021:

Video at right:
Genie lift in action, to get workers high enough up to inspect the rigging beams above our stage.

ACT III Chair Mark Allen stands in front of what will be the office for our Executive Director.

Foundation has been poured for the new audience entrance and new stairway to the booth.

Prepping for the new "side acting" area on house right. (1)

Prepping for the new "side acting" area on house right. (2)

Prepping for the new "side acting" area on house right. (3)

6/4/2021:

Digging a moat around the building to make room for the new fire sprinkler line.

The temporary moat at the back of the building.

Now the moat's been covered up and the bush replanted. (We're hoping it will survive its transplant operation in this early summer heat.)

Making room for the new audience entrance and the relocated stairs to the light/sound booth.

The carpet has been removed from the lobby. (And now there is no more floral carpet anywhere in our building.)

Goodbye side seating sections!

5/21/2021: Lots of big, noisy machine action this week!

Concrete is being cut away in auditorium to make room for new riser system. (We'll have three audience seating sections rather than five when we're done -- and every seat will have a view of the very back of the stage!)

Strange construction objects appear on site . . . .

. . and then get buried in the ground. (We think this is part of the new fire sprinkler system.)

5/14/2021: This week we excavated to make room for the new lobby bathrooms.

Beginning to dig out to make room for the new restrooms and community room.

New restrooms will be installed on the north end of the building.

(Left) Watch the excavation team at work clearing the way for the new lobby entrance at the front of the building.

5/5/2021: Visible changes are happening daily. Here are a few highlights from the last week.

Above: A new door will allow actors to enter new acting area from Stage Left.

Above: We're adding recessed "lighting pockets" to each side of the auditorium to make things easier for current and future lighting designers.

Above: What the CT lobby looks like today. (Good thing we're not finished yet!)

This commemorative plaque, honoring Frank Long and family for their many contributions to the theatre, was installed in 1998. This week it was excavated and carefully saved. We'll be reinstalling it in one of our new sidewalks.

Above: Our backstage Rehearsal Hall accumulates "stuff" by the day . . . .

4/23/2021: Demolition is underway! This week our construction team began the work to raise the proscenium opening. (This is necessary to ensure that audience members in the soon-to-be-higher back row have a full view of the action on stage!) They also removed siding from the exterior portions of the building where modest new additions will go, and removed the lobby bathrooms. (The bathroom space will become part of the new lobby, and new bathrooms will be built along the north side of the building.)

Above: The proscenium opening is being raised two feet, so that everyone in the soon-to-be-higher back row will be able to see all of the action on stage.

Above: Cutting away the drywall above the proscenium.

Above: Portion of the house left wall has been removed to get ready for the new audience access door.

Above: The front of the building will get a whole new entry and facade.

Above: The new community room and lobby bathrooms will be added to this side of the building.

Above: What used to be the lobby bathrooms will become part of the expanded north end of the lobby.

Above: What the lobby looks like today.

4/9/2021: Construction Kickoff!!!

3/30/2021: Ordell Construction arrives on site!

3/27/2021: Our now-bare auditorium. All of the seats are stored in the Rehearsal Hall until it's time to reinstall them late this summer.

3/13/2021: Volunteer crews disassemble our Mamma Mia set and move it into a trailer for temporary storage. (We were just about to open Mamma Mia when COVID hit in March 2020. We hope to finally get our Mamma Mia cast back on stage after the remodel and as soon as COVID guidelines permit such large group gatherings.)

3/6/2021: The pre-construction work parties are underway. Check out the video to the left to see our progress. COVID precautions make things a little more complicated, as right now we can only have small groups of masked volunteers working at a time, but we'll still get the job done!

2/27/2021: On the heels of the very exciting news that the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust approved a large grant for this project, we are beginning the pre-construction move-out process. We need to remove all sound and lighting equipment from the booth, and all seats from the auditorium, so the contractors can do their magic. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust joins the State of Oregon, Ford Family Foundation, Woodard Family Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Sunderland Foundation, and Oregon Cultural Trust -- along with hundreds of individual donors -- in providing major support for this project. We are not yet at 100% of our fundraising goal, but the Murdock grant brings us to about 95% of the way there, which is enough to get construction started.