One day soon I will not have anymore weekend homework, but right now I have two more weekends full until this semester (i.e. my grad school career) ends. And this weekend I’m back to the Addison Town Hall, one of my favorite buildings. This time I’m working on an interior conditions assessment (which follow a windows conditions assessment and an exterior conditions assessment). Take a look at these photos:
The second floor and the stage.
On the stage.
View from the stage.
These are only on the second floor because it’s the more historic of the floors… and it has the amazing historic feeling to it. Can you imagine putting on a play for your class on that stage? Look at those little desks. I love the benches, too, likely used for town hall meetings and grange hall meetings. While I chose a cold, but sunny day to conduct my documentation, it was colder inside the building than outside! (This, of course, I expected since the building hasn’t been heated in decades.) Still, any chance to spend time in the Addison Town Hall is a treat.
That’s my homework this weekend. What about you?
Preservation in Pink 
Hi Kaitlin,
Thanks for sharing your pictures of the interior. The various ropes and hardware hanging from the ceiling over the stage made me wonder what the place looked like in its heyday. By any chance have you been in touch with Chris Hadsel or anybody else connected with the Vermont Theater Curtain Project? Their site doesn’t indicate that they’ve found a curtain for Addison, but you might enjoy looking at some of the curtains they’ve conserved and helped put back in situ.http://www.curtainswithoutborders.org/vermont/index_vt_new.html.
I’d love to hear about any results of interior paint analysis, if you’re doing it as part of your documentation.
Best wishes for the rest of the semester. Stay warm!
Hi Nancie,
I did not contact or hear anything about the Vermont Theater Curtain Project. I’m sure that local Addison residents would be able to recall what was in place on that stage. Thank you for the link. I imagine the space in its heyday to look much the same, just cleaner and well-kept with the benches or desks in rows. But, I wonder about the combination of curtains or partitions on the stage based on tracks above and hardware on the stage.
I don’t know if you’ve been in the town hall, but the historic feeling, particularly of the second floor is amazing. The pictures don’t quite capture it.
Re: paint analysis by microscope, it was not a part of this documentation, but I can discuss the many colors and layers of colors seen in the building. See Preservation Photos #61 for a start! I’m happy to share more about my project, if you’re interested.
Thanks for reading!