Week One

The first week was very interesting and exciting. I met with my supervisor, Anita Werling, the President of the Delphi Preservation Society the previous Tuesday to meet and see the space that I would be working with. We could call this an open internship since the society had already accepted me for the internship position and it was my call if this is what I wanted to do.

The very first day, Monday the 12, we met at the Opera House to meet with a few of the technicians. Since I am working on a building that dates back to 1845 and is still in the condition from circa 1865, we are working with many people to make the renovation a success story. I met with Robin, who is the wall paper tech and we made a phone call to MDC Wall Coverings to see the possibilities for replication of the original wall covering. We are going to go in very soon and try to remove a piece of the original wall covering from 1845 for replication. It is very exciting since technology allows perfect replication for the space. We continued to talk about plans for my workload and what I was planning to do for my first project. The way we have this set up is that I work from home to run my CAD programs and other programs that require internet connection and we meet throughout the week for progress meetings. We are in contact every day through email and phone calls. It allows great flexibility and still the learning experience that I really wanted.

My first project I am working on is the front facade of the Opera House. In the original facade it featured the full 3 stories that still exist and on the main floor iron Romanesque rounded arches and prism glass above the store fronts. Then came the 70's and the arches no longer exist and the prism glass has been covered up and removed in some cases. The glass is beautiful. The panels are constructed of a steel frame, with 4"x4" glass panels set into smaller steel frames. And each panel looks like it has bubbles or waves making up the individual glass panes. It is a deep violet color and one has a merchants logo for C.O. Julius, a company that was on the main floor in the early 1900s and that logo is orange glass. It really brings the facade to life. We are getting estimates for repairs and that is why I am working on the facade restoration to reset the panels above the storefront and have it completely rendered for the heading for grants and other documents. I am working on doing many renderings for the next few weeks. The facade fully rendered is due to present to the board on May 29th.
I really enjoy this internship since I am able to work on perspectives and renderings to really understand the space and bring it to life.