I just realized that I put a picture of the old tarped roof  at the beginning of this blog, because it was the beginning of really working on 47 East High Street.  And I never put up a picture of the new roof.  Here it is, complete with skylights.  Still waiting fo the solar array I would like to put on the SW side and don't have the funds for.

Soooo....still not managing to post here as often as I'd like.  It's been a very rough year on a purely personal level.  Annoying flu and other infections, a homeless cat and her kittens to save, computers melting down.  Some years are just hard.  Things are changing with the studios in what I know will be a good way.  I actually have hopes of finishing the Handball Court though I don't think I will be able to do what I really want and offer it on a daily basis because I really won't have the time to manage it.

The School of Dance Arts led by Chrystie Cannon is leaving and I will soon have her three studios available for rent. Two of them may still be set up for dance so I need to decide if that is something I will get involved with again, hard to say.  I have some really wonderful people renting from me now, a painter, an ink artist, a small recording studio, crafters, medical illustration and more to come. There is nothing better than a visit to the studios to talk with whoever is there and munch on a cookie offered to me by the Tulpehocken Exchange (look them up on Facebook).

I hope to start a page here showcasing studio artists soon.  And creating my own art is once again looking possible, if I can only find the time.

Well, between one thing and another it's been ages since I posted here.  The lower level studios have been finished for a while except for the big multi media room which is still in the planning stage.  I have discovered (after 36 years) that this building is a lot to manage for one non builder type.  

The last year has been pretty much taken up with my revamping the heat in the front  where I live and dealing with various life crises.  I got overwhelmed to the point that when studios have become available I have not been posting them.  That is changing now.  

The good news is that I am sculpting again, my garden is happy and I have hot water heat that is amazing.   Also I will be posting regularly with the help of my brand new assistant who is helping to make my life coherent. 

In the meantime some pics from the past

Since June I have been working pretty much flat out (migraines permitting).  I kept meaning to post and then... life happened.  Most often in the form of something I had to do to keep the studio project going forward.  Sometimes a cat emergency or a movie I had to see.  Anyhow here we are and things have moved forward
This

Has become this

Still have a lot to do and feeling finally like I will actually get there.

The open house on the 31st (blog post accidentally deleted) went well.  Quite a few people dropped by and the studios were ready for them.  Old bathtubs, radiator covers and steel tables had gone to recycling

The walks had been swept and the honeysuckle was blooming...

 Friends who have been with me from before the beginning were impressed which made me feel good because no matter how much I know I have done it never seems like enough.  At least one studio is rented, maybe more.   Next week I'm going to do a little video to show the place off.

Really!  One more sink to put in, a few dings in the walls to fix and pipes to paint and the first of the studios are ready to rent, toilets and all.  They look really good and I am looking forward to a slightly more relaxing schedule as I finish the rest and look for tenants.  If you know anyone who needs a studio send them my way

Studio LLE, the largest one finished so far.  Here you see most of it's 496 sf seen from the side of the window, and below is the the window

This is LLD, one of the two smallest studios which happened to be the first ones completed. 

Tomorrow photos of the public areas.

 For more than a year the construction of the studios has been taking most of my time.  Learning all I need to know to make decisions about new plumbing, new electric, new heat, lots of things I thought I knew about and didn't.  Now, however, I am getting closer to having the fundamentals in place.  Here are some pics

The roof with the turban still on it, slate gone and tar paper put down.

Six inches of insulation and most of the first side covered with red metal.  The turbine is already down here.  The guy you can see in the lower left is standing on 12' high stacks of insulation that are taking up my entire back garden (no garden left I'm afraid, 30 years of plantings gone in a week).

This is half the brass turbine from the peak of the theater (there is a big base as well, and a structure to suspend it).  It is 54" across at the base and absolutely beautiful, the grace of the lines is astonishing.  I am so grateful to Tim Mays who is doing my roof for getting it down without destroying it.  They had to do it without a crane and it was not easy to say the least.  Now what to do with it?

A new roof and heat in the lower level will happen this month.  Pretty soon the roof will be dark brick red instead of white.  I am really pumped though I don't know how I will get everything done that I need to do to prepare for these two events (no, I am not doing the major work myself, being an artist is enough for me).  The amount of preparation that goes into all this continues to astound me.   Came through Sandy without a drop of water anywhere which was wonderful.  47 High Street has always been sound and dry (overbuilt really) but you never know.