Event Pavilion for Alna Center - Official Reassembly Thread

[Ed Lecuyer]

I am pleased to announce that the Maine Community Foundation has awarded us a $4550 grant to assist in the reassembly of the event pavilion at Alna Center.

For details see:
http://wwfry.org/?p=2458

And to learn more about the disassembly of the structure, see:
http://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,3296.0.html

And (members only) can learn about the location placement decision process at:
http://forum.wwfry.org/index.php/topic,3315.0.html

[Bob Holmes]

Clearly from the record, there is lots of evidence to support our Pavilion as historically accurate.

(But maybe without electronic sound systems...)

[John Kokas]

I hope we leave enough room for a BBQ pit 

[Roger Cole]

I know you have so many "irons in the fire" for this year.  Is the reassembly of this pavilion slated for the 2020 SWW or on a "time as available when available" basis?

[Mike Fox]

Roger, planning a solid start right after FWW. If we can get the footers in, we can continue until the weather tells us different.

[Paul Uhland]

Pray for a mild, late winter.
Good luck.

[John Kokas]

If it can get done before Christmas, it would be a wonderful support for Victorian Christmas.  Santa and Christmas market perhaps?

[Mike Fox]

I doubt it will be done by Christmas. It took 8 days to take it down, and that was just the building. We have the prep work, ground work and then to construct the building. We will be lucky to have the footers done by Victorian Christmas, as there is a bit of prep to them.

[Bill Reidy]

Work started today on site preparations at Alna Center for the pavilion -- trees were cut down along Averill Road and in the planned footprint for the building.

Dwight Winkley, Fred Morse (both foreground) and Mike Fox (background) work on trees along Averill Road adjacent to the pavilion site.


Fred works...


...While everyone else takes a break.  Alna Center station is in the background.


Later in the day, attention turned to the location where the pavilion will be placed.


Dwight works as the 1.30 train from Sheepscot, about to pass Alna Center station, heads north toward Top of the Mountain.


The pavilion site largely cleared of trees.  The stake in the foreground marks the southeast corner of the pavilion.

[Mike Fox]

Small crew today but great start. A good day next Saturday should get the bulk of it.

The one picture I took today of the site (after we decided the exact location)

[Mike Fox]

A great day today. We had 6 volunteers at AC for a good part of the day. The fires were slow to start, but then we could hardly throw brush on them quick enough after they warmed up. All trees where the Pavilion will be built have been cut. Just a couple on the south side that need to go, plus cut out the road.

This was early, just as the fires started to go, at 8:45am



Contractor Jeff stopped by and may move a machine in this week to start stumps and levelling. Dwight stayed with me until almost dark, and we moved all logs and wood from the site.

Here are a few 5:55pm pics..

[Bill Reidy]

Mike, Jerry Steinke and Dwight Winkley arrived early and got the fires going.  Dave Buczkowski, Stewart Rhine and I joined later.  A few photos...

The view from the doorway of Alna Center station looking west.  Obscured a bit by the front end loader and stone piles, the pavilion will be erected in the opened field beyond, running lengthwise east to west.


A reverse view looking east from the planned western end of the pavilion, looking over the opened field toward the 12.30 p.m. train from Top of Mountain at Alna Center station.  Jerry, Mike and Dwight work the field and fires.  The hardwood logs are a bonus, to perhaps be used for flatcar loads during the Maine Two-Foot Winter photo events in January and February, and definitely for firing steam locomotives next year.


Later in the afternoon, we see one of two large white pines that were dropped.  Jerry works on limbing the tree as Mike tends a fire...


...while Stewart, Dwight and Dave offer emotional support.  I was working hard, taking photos.


The view looking west around 2 p.m., before I had to leave.  Mike operates the Kubota moving hardwood logs, as Jerry tends a fire.


As the field has opened the past two weekends, I've gotten a sense how nice a most-weather event space this will be.  Another step in making all our station stops a popular public destination.

[Bill Baskerville]

Great work by a good team!

[Dave Buczkowski]

Stewart had the great idea about building a stone fireplace at the western end of the pavilion. Do we have any stone masons among our merry band?
Dave

[Bill Baskerville]

Roger and I are Masons, but not really stone masons.  I can pour foundations, lay brick and block and have designed and built a brick faced block fireplace.  I have have also supervised construction of several hundred feet of stone walls, but never tried it myself. 

 If you want a large fireplace I would recommend an internal block structure with fire brick fire place, clay lined chimney and either brick or stone outer covering.  The final look will be either brick or stone.  Block, fire brick (and brick exterior) and clay chimney liners along with fire resistant mortar mixes are all readily available.  Stone would be best sourced from a commercial provider (I get mine from the local bulk concrete {read big truck concrete} house). 

Constructing with the larger rounded river stone that I see in the Alna area could also be done by picking thru the glacial till that I see delivered around the site, but the construction would be a little more difficult.