Change is the one constant nowadays!
It's hard to believe we are finally on the brink of big renovations at The Firehouse. While we are still waiting for the final permit approval (and doing a final fundraising push), we are keeping busy with all sorts of preparations and mini-renovations. Since work will be taking place all over the building in various stages, we are moving things around and doing smaller renovations to prepare for some of the bigger things to come.
With the help of wonderful volunteers, our modular hydroponic wall art installation has been dissembled and put away. This beautiful statement piece was donated to us by artists Annika Kuhlman and Christopher Thomas. It was developed as a part of the "I Was Raised on the Internet" exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in 2018. Our Director of Operations, Eric Weber, actually served as an advisor for the design and installation! Since the modular wall came back to us in 2020, it has served as a partition wall from the back entrance to the open learning space on our first floor. Eric is already formulating a new and improved design for re-installation once the larger renovations are completed.
Eric has also been hard at work refinishing a "new" glass door for our 2nd-floor stairway. In the spirit of re-use, the door was purchased from our friends at the Rebuilding Exchange, and the cornice was a salvaged piece from Stockyards Brick & Timber. Some creative engineering is taking place as Eric builds a special hinge mechanism to maintain the largest possible doorway when it's fully opened. This is an old building, so every time we move even a tiny piece of wood, we're uncovering new things! In this case, Eric discovered a penny lodged in between the woodwork. While we would have liked to find a little more money back there, the fact that the penny was dated 1964 gave us a clue that the original door was removed sometime after that (likely it wasn't removed by the fire department but a future owner).
Image: new door frame/door
Why are we replacing this door? When we first moved into the building in 2020, there was no door separating the first and second floors. Since the building is large, we need a way to partition spaces for safety reasons. This new door is different from the last one—it has a glass window that allows us to see through. This means we can keep the door closed (and locked) while still maintaining visibility, helping us distinguish staff-only areas.
If you are interested in learning more about our upcoming renovations, from ADA to decarbonization, read our Firehouse Renovation post.