Arts Village Taking Shape!

Things are changing fast at North Fork -

The sleeping quarters for the Arts Village are all up. The construction workers are putting on the roofs and walls. Soon there will just be a little building with nothing inside of them except light switches and outlets.

The beds that were chosen are bunk beds. The beds’ design is still being planned out. Four bunk beds per cabin so eight people can sleep in each.

There are going to be two doors and two really big windows followed by 4 smaller windows over the main door and the back wall from when you first walk into the bunk house.

These pictures are the same building within 10min during our visit.

Here is one of the ten cabins - with walls, doors and the first layer of the roof.

The next picture is the same cabin, but it looks different.

The building is made to withstand 150 mile winds. The designers are making everything handicap accessible and thinking of every safety precaution.

While we were at camp this building was wrapped in Tyvek – a vapor barrier to help keep moisture out.

If you look really close you will see the whole side is covered with the Tyvek, and then the door is cut out again.

The man in the blue hard hat is starting to cut the door out.

- More later - The Drama Queens - Troop 853

Some of the Walls are Up

Drama Queens here with another progress report
on the Arts Village at North Fork.

Recently we revisited the Arts Village - and were we surprised at the progress! Last time we were here the slabs were being poured, the cement was settling and the pipes were sticking out of the ground.

Now the stone walls are up. The stone used for the walls is a split face block – the inside is smooth and the outside is burnished and rough. Also - see those metal strips sticking up? Those are hurricane ties. Each has 29 smaller and 2 larger holes for nails that help strengthen the wood posts that will hold the roof in place.

The wood and screen portions have to wait until the camp redistributes its water supply. Each site must have access to water to guarantee safety in case of fire. Once the water from the front pond has been pumped to the various construction sites, the 4x4 posts will be added and the screens put in.

We also observed on the now much larger concrete slabs that provide the floor for the showers and bathrooms that there are 8x8x8 joints to allow for the concrete to crack along these expansion joints.

There are three buildings walled in – one has the beginnings of a wash house with toilets and showers and the other two are unit houses. One of these two buildings will be equipped with utility sinks in the back to help facilitate art projects.

Here where we are standing will be a sink area – the pipes are already in place.

The pic on the right is outside the wash house - it is a handicap accessible shower.

So, as you can see the Arts Village is taking shape! We can now see the inside of buildings. The sleeping quarters will have wood and screen walls and so were still only concrete slabs during this visit.

Please check back for another update soon!

The Drama Queens!