A Surprise Under the Floorboards

While the weather outside was frightful, the work inside was frightening. I really thought that most of the demolition inside the building had been completed. Well…I was wrong! 

There has been the noise of jackhammers everywhere! 

This was the week that large load bearing walls were removed to prepare for the new steel beams waiting to be installed. Suddenly we have even larger open spaces for the Stettinius Community Galleries and the Klaus and Reynolds Costume and Textile Galleries.

I really did not understand fully the magnitude of some of these changes until I saw it for myself this week.

Until the beams are in we have a new art installation (actually it is a complex web of temporary framing – see below) that supports all four floors. While the framing is really beautiful, I know that our staff on the floors above would rather be focused on planning for the new galleries than the constant noise below. With the work on the basement floor, we are now able to look through the entire building from the Wickham House to the education center in the Bransford Cecil House. 

Temporary framing in the Stettinius Community Garden.

The view from the Wickham House into the Sara D. November Education Center

But the renovation fun did not end there, the City also began their major replacement of water and sewer lines on both Clay and 10th Streets. The streets around us have been filled with the sounds of jackhammers pulling up paving along with the movement of trucks and backhoes. VCU continues work on its new building (with lots of new parking) on Broad and 10th. 10th Street will soon be made 2-way providing much easier access to Broad Street.This is work that will change the way we think about our Court End neighborhood.

Water and sewer replacement on Clay Street.