Urban Core

a Stewart Perry Project

  • Home
  • The Lyric
    • Site History
    • Photo Galleries
  • Redmont Hotel
    • Site History
    • Photo Galleries
  • Thomas Jefferson
    • Site History
    • Photo Galleries
  • Stewart Perry Construction

The Blind Pick

July 30, 2015 By admin

Lyric-Collage-8-13-15Imagine an intricate network of steel weighing 25 tons. Now imagine that it needs to be lifted 64 feet to hang above a stage. This was just the situation at the Lyric Theatre, where our crews were challenged to place the stage rigging, which will allow for more elaborate sets and performances down the road. We used two separate cranes, which were positioned in the street. The method was a “blind pick” meaning that the operators had no direct visual on what they were hoisting, only the communication of two way radios. As you can see, it went off without a hitch. Bring on the big shows!

 

Filed Under: Lyric Theatre, The Lyric Theatre, Uncategorized Tagged With: blind pick, cranes, Lyric Theatre, stage rigging, theatre and arts district

Steel City

July 2, 2015 By admin

Lyric Collage 2Lyric Collage 1While Evergreene’s stunning restoration work continues, steel crews are preparing the Lyric Theatre to handle additional loads. Current work will allow the opera boxes to be installed to original specifications, and also for a more modern stage fly.

The majority of the dance floor has been removed, but we did leave a portion to access the balcony transverse beam, where Evergreene will be stenciling. The restoration team is also plaster casting on the first floor, and painting as well.

Filed Under: Birmingham Fine Arts, Historical Restoration, Lyric Theatre, The Lyric Theatre Tagged With: EverGreene Architectural Arts, Lyric Theatre, Steel Crew

Bringing Back the Opera Boxes

June 2, 2015 By admin

Lyric Collage 2Lyric Collage 1

The original Lyric Theatre featured 12 beautiful opera boxes. When Panavision came to the theatre in 1958, the opera boxes were torn down to make way for the screen. Since we are trying to restore the theatre to its original design, EverGreene has been tasked with recreating the boxes. Since we don’t have drawings of the old theatre, the plaster panels you see in images above modeled after old photographs of the Lyric. Once painted, they should be an incredible part of the audience chamber.

Filed Under: Birmingham Fine Arts, Historical Restoration, Light Up the Lyric, Lyric Theatre, The Lyric Theatre Tagged With: EverGreene Architectural Arts, Lyric Theatre, Panavision

Fine Tuning Paint Colors

March 12, 2015 By admin

Lyric Collage 3-12-15 1Lyric Collage 3-12-15 2

Inside the Lyric, we continue to move forward with plaster casting and restoration. Experts from EverGreene Architectural are fine tooling the moldings. In damaged spots, they are using pieces of existing material to create molds and fill in gaps where necessary. For example, they used a small patch of an existing air return, repeating the pattern to form a complete circle.

We are continuing to tweak the paint palate to ensure it is both striking and historically correct. The most recent iteration uses rich metallics.

 

Filed Under: Birmingham Fine Arts, Historical Restoration, Lyric Theatre, The Lyric Theatre Tagged With: Birmingham Fine Arts District, EverGreene Architectural Arts, Lyric Theatre, plaster restoration

A Stewart Perry Construction project blog.