Interesting small project this summer

…interesting project this summer in Whiteside Park in Ely. We bid to do the re-roofing and refinishing of the buildings in the park as well as doing something with the lower logs on the bandshell that had not weathered so well over the 20 years or so since this had been built. In the course of thinking about that bandshell issue a little further, in some discussions at park and rec meetings, it came to our attention that the one most common complaint about the structure was it’s height from the ground. Performers and spectators alike all said that the stage was just to high. Since we were already faced with the issue of fixing the rotting logs under the front of the stage area, we decided we should think about taking it a step further and see if we could just lower the entire structure, and we came up with a plan to do just that.

The building as it stood this spring before we started anything…

This is the closeup of the rotten logs in the front of the building under the stage. The weather just pounds those logs because the roof is so high and the prevailing winds are out of the southwest.

With the help of McGregor house Movers out of Mt Iron, we raised the building just a hair and took out all the logs from underneath.

Then we set it back down and finished off the lower area. The stage is now 30″ lower than it was before. It was a satisfying project and we have been getting a lot of comments about the improvement.

The Hummingbirds have left us. I think the last one was here last Monday or Tuesday… The feeder was still up all week and we kept looking hopefully out the window over morning coffee but they never returned.

The leaves seem to be turning color as you watch them now. I took a couple pictures on our walk this morning. Pictures never do justice to the autumn leaves. They are reaching an intense level and the Aspen haven’t even started yet.