Progress Update

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The Venue Progress

Jerry Davis & Rick Merrell cutting skids

A drone tour of the area The Venue Stage is going and a few other areas

Our old building was great

"A spectacular listening room"

"What an awesome venue!"

"The best venue on my tour"

"Uber cool and worth supporting"

"The coolest, chillest spot we've played"

"The Venue is Creston's Living-Room"

"The Venue ... is very welcoming"

"The best little venue in B.C."

"We have enjoyed many a fine performance at the Venue."

SEE ALL QUOTES

But our new location will be incredible

Our Mission Statement

The Venue - Performance and Visual Arts Society provides diverse local musical, filmic, theatrical and artistic engagement opportunities for artists and audiences, local and abroad, from all backgrounds and ages at various locations in the Creston Valley.

17 Aug 2023:

Wynter Holloway Poirier has begun painting our consession booth, beginning with our logo above the food service window.

10 Aug 2023:

This evening we had our first annual society meeting. We had a great turn out and the main topic discussed were organization of an action committee, fund raising and completion of building projects. Lot of positions were volunteered for which we'll list here once we have the minutes published and someone looking after this webpage that knows what they're doing better than I do.

04 May 2023:

The excavation is completed.

03 May 2023:

Breaking the ground!

Looking for Volunteers

We are looking for volunteers in several areas. Obviously construction, we need carpenters, electricians, landscapers and plumbers. In addition to these we will need people willing to volunteer to help run the concessions booth, ticketing, lightening, sound, hostess/hosts and more. If you want to be part of the excitement and provide assistance in any of these areas contact Rick Brown @ 250 428 6444 or email us at thevenuecreston@gmail.com

Breaking Ground
We've been in contact with the excavator and they'll be in next week to begin leveling the area beside the dance floor pad for the concession building. Once that is done we'll begin prepping the ground and installing the base for the building. A bit of shoring is required to build up a bit of a slope the building will be sitting over.

July 2022:
We picked up the 6 x 6 fir to build the retaining wall to give us more surface area to construct the concession/storage building. It's hot, hot, hot working in 35 degree heat. It's work for 10 mins break for 20 mins.

188 linear feet of 6 x 6 fir to be used in building the retaining wall

Staining the 6 x 6s with Valhalla preservative

Trench cut for the first layer of the retaining wall.

First layer of retaining wall in place. Back at it on Tuesday.

03 May 2023:

Glendan, Dane and James study the stage foundation plans and mark the ground for excavation.

August 2022:
Lumber delivered and ground being leveled

Sid & Chance Oler assisted in packing and leveling the ground.

Sid, Becky, Gillian, Tracey, Riley, Chance & Zora

Many thanks to all that came out to help unload the wood for the concession stand. In order from left to right: Sid, Becky, Gillian, Tracey, Riley, Chance & Zora.

03 May 2023:

We've finished clading the outside of the consession booth with a 2nd layer of plywood. The cracks and knot holes will be filled and then the exterior will be painted with a flat white primer in preparation for the art work by Wynter Holloway Poirier. The outside of the building will be totally decorated with artwork.

06 Sept 2022:
School is back in now and as such I'm losing my two great workers, Sid & Chance Oler. Hopefully we'll be able to have them help on the weekends. Here they are filling the wheelbarrow with dirt needed to complete leveling the building site area.

14 Sept 2022:
At the Fall Fair I met Forrest and Steven from Big Tree Electrical. They are excited to join our team and look after our electrical requirements and get us going in the right direction. That is a big load off our shoulders for sure. We're happy to have them on the team!
We've also solved our 2nd retaining wall issue. Our stage lighting leader Ron Kooy has a bobcat and Gillian lined us up a trailer to haul it. So, we're just waiting on Sullivan stone to supply us with 16 cement "lego" blocks and we'll construct the retaining wall, install the weeping tile and then we can begin construction on the concession stand/storage shed all done.

19 Sept 2022:

The cement "lego block" retaining wall was finished today! Many thanks to Ron Kooy & Bill Fay for helping get it done.

Ron Kooy cutting back the bank wth his skid steer

Bill Fay & Rick Brown leveled and packed the base while Ron Kooy picked up blocks

Many thanks to Lance Huscroft for lending us his trailer for the day

The 1,000 lb blocks were moved into place one at a time with the skid steer

Ron Kooy, Rick Brown & Bill Fay taking a break

Blocks had to raised up, then the trailer driven out from under them

22 Sept 2022:

It's a bit rainy today, but Rick Merrell and I will be heading out to Jerry Davis' to pick up the 6 x 6 skids he's cutting for our concession/storage building to be set on. Yesterday I picked up an additional 6 foundation deck blocks to set the skids on (15 in total). Hopefully we'll be working on the actual building next week. We need to get the cement deck foundation blocks dug into the ground and leveled and then set the skids on them and then ... we're building!! I've been waiting all spring and summer to say that, and here it is now - fall.

Jerry was still cutting when we got there, so we were able to give him a hand and learn how the sawmill works. It was pretty interesting.

23 Sept 2022:

Skids are now treated with Valhalla wood preservative and will be cut to 12 ft lengths.

Rick, treating the skids with Valhalla preservative

Original sign for West Kootenay Power & Light

Arial photo of construction site 22 Sept 2022

19 April 2023:

We're back at it. We're insulating and putting up vapour barrier in the consession booth.

2 Dec 2022

Forrest Demman from Big Tree Electrical is helping us get the building wired and ready for inspection. He brought over all the "parts" and showed us what to do and how to pull wires etc. Gui and I are finishing off a few assignments he gave us so he can come back and finish final hook ups.

12 Nov 2022

Gui, Susan and I completed the soffit and facia. Finally, that was hard to do with the retaining wall only leaving us 2 ft of ground at the back of the consession so we had to build a platform to place the scafolding on. Forrest from Big Tree Electrcal will be coming on Wednesday to start wiring the building. If you'd like to volunteer to help "pull" wires let us know. He'll be teaching us how to wire a house basically.

08 Nov 2022

Although there haven't been any entries for the last week, we have been making progress. The roof tin "leak" has been fixed and the "J" track has been installed. The leak we had was because our roof tin was 4 inches too short and we had to cut an extensions for it. We now have the soffit and facia which we will be installing tomorrow along with the door and the window, weather permitting.

Gui and I have been working on lighting projects for the park. Our first one is shown below. There will be two guitars, one mounted on either side of the concession window. They will react to various stimuli, most likely to the stage music.

24 Sept 2022:

Susan and I managed to get one set of skids in and they are perfectly level! It helps when you have a transit to use.

Susan helping to dig the holes. Only 3 inches deep.

First skid in the ground, the rest I'll do tomorrow.

25 Sept 2022:

Paul Brady and I installed the 2nd set of skids today. I'll add a picture tomorrow of all three in place.

26 Sept 2022:

Didn't have a "stickman" to help me with the transit work so I used a microphone stand and held the yardstick in place with the microphone clip. A bit later Susan dropped by and helped for a bit and then Zora came by and helped me lift the skids onto the cement block. Now to dig a drainage ditch and put down landscaping cloth.

Finally the skids are done. Now just a bit of weed prevention around the building.

29 Oct 2022:

Only nine days and my arm is almost healed. I've been using a Marijuana cream on it and it speeds the healing. Email me at rfdbrown32166@gmail.com to find out where to get it. It works miracles.

27 Oct 2022:

The tin was delivered and it is now installed on the roof. Bill came out in the morning and showed us what to do. Thank goodness for Gui, Susan and Kathryn. Without them the tin wouldn't be installed. Gui doesn't have a fear of heights and he could easily fit between the rafters and strapping so he screwed down all the tin roofing sheets. Susan and Kathryn came out and helped me lift the sheets up onto the roof top, they were too large for one person to deal with.

27 Sept 2022:

Wow! I didn't think I could do it, but I did. I moved 8 tons of gravel today with a spade and a wheelbarrow. I covered the area where the concession/storage building is going with landscaping cloth and then with gravel. It will not only stop weeds but the soil there is clay and it's very dusty so it will stop the dust when there is a breeze. Tomorrow, weather permitting Bill and I will begin framing.

Also exciting is the outdoor kitchen Glendan & Rob are building on the lower property level. It is basically like the idea we have for the stage.

04 Oct 2022:

Today was my Dad's birthday, I hope he would be proud that the dream is coming together. Yesterday, I took out tools and prepped the construction site for todays activities. Bill Fay came out and framed up the floor, I cut joists and assisted. Time lapse videos are below.

20 Oct 2022:

We got our goal accomplished today. Gui and I needed to get the 1 x 4 strapping finished, the roof edge installed, the building wrapped with Tyvek and taped. Well we got it all done except for the taping. Tracy, Gillian & Cherryl came over and helped us tarp the roof as it looks like rain tomorrow and the tin roofing hasn't arrived yet. While up on the ladder tacking the Tyvek in place my ladder broke and I tumbled to the ground. I hit pretty hard but nothing like what happened to Susan last week when she fell off a retaining wall, so I was pretty lucky. I got a really good friction bruise on my right arm and I'm sure it's going to hurt once the T3s wear off. Oh well, the cost of building a dream comes in many shapes and forms ... but it's always worth it. Pictures are below.

Tracy and her daughters saw me fall and came over to help me. After I was back on my feet, Tracy, Cherryl and Gillian helped Gui and I get the building tarped in the event of rain tomorrow. I guess I'll take a few days off and count my blessings.

19 Oct 2022:

Bill came this morning and helped Gui install the facia board on the 12 foot wall side. I stood safely on the ground and supervised. lol. Then Gui and I worked on installing the 1 x 4 strapping on the roof rafters and the huricane straps. We would have finished but we ran out of 1 x 4s and sunlight.

Below are the before and after pics from today.

18 Oct 2022:

Today we finished installing the rafters and completed the sheathing of the building. Tomorrow we will install the 1x4 rafter ties and huricane straps.

05 Oct 2022:

The main wall was completed and put up today. Bill Fay, Gui Poirier and myself got the wall constructed. Susan brought us out lunch and Gillian brought us Slurpees! When it was time to raise the wall Dave Meier, Cole Fay and his friend showed up to give us a hand. The time lapse videos are below, my only disappointment was that the ipad battery died before we put the wall up. Tomorrow I will be sure to bring out the power cord.

06 Oct 2022:

We had another awesome day. We got two more walls framed and hoisted into place. I've included photographs and time laspse to show the progress. The time-lapse cover the time period from 9am to 4pm.

07 Oct 2022:

Not much today, I finished installing the blocking, short pieces of wood between the wall studs to keep them from twisting. We will get back at it early next week. Rob Blackmore gave me a hand finishing up putting in the blocking.

11 Oct 2022:

Started trenching the water and sewer line for the concession/storage building. Sid Oler came out to help.

12 Oct 2022:

Lots of things happened today. Gui Poirier and I spent the day digging the trench and near the end of the day one of the Thundercats came out to assist us, Jace Litoski. We managed to get the trench finished. Tomorrow we'll buy the pipe and get it laid in.

Gill, Glendan, Rob and myself mapped out the stage on the ground for the excavator. He came by a little later to see what needs to be done and when he can get started. There will be a partial "basement" under the stage for storage of canoes, kayaks and water boards.

This picture showing on the right side, where the stage will be located. Excavation will be starting in the next few weeks.

The left side of the pictures shows the partial complete concession booth with the proposed deck to be built around it.

17 Oct 2022:

I taped the vapour barrier and did some site cleanup in preparation for tomorrow, Bill wasn't available today.

15 Oct 2022:

Today Sid Oler came by and we finished cutting the roof rafters. You may not be able to tell from the time lapse video, but Sid is doing almost all of the measuring, marking and cutting of the rafters including the bird's beak notches. Next step is to install them. Bill and I will do that Monday and then install the 1 x 4 strapping and the building will be ready for the tin roofing. We're getting very close to having the building weather ready!

14 Oct 2022:

Bill Fay and I framed up the last wall. It was more fun than the others as it is the one with the concession window! When we were done that Bill showed me how to cut the roof rafters. After Bill left I put the blocking in between the wall studs.

13 Oct 2022:

New grants are out from CBT so I've to set aside some time to get an application written up. Today we got a lot accomplished. Gui, Sid and myselft got the plumbing done and ran a communication conduit from the concession over to the existing laundry room. From there we can access the internet.

Rick Merrell stopped by today too. He was checking our progress. He will be running cables for our alarm system and any other low voltage systems we'll be running.

188 linear feet of 6 x 6 fir to be used in building the retaining wall

Staining the 6 x 6s with Valhalla preservative

August 2022: Lumber delivered and ground being leveled

Sid & Chance Oler assisted in packing and leveling the ground.

Many thanks to all that came out to help unload the wood for the concession stand. In order from left to right: Sid, Becky, Gillian, Tracey, Riley, Chance & Zora.

06 Sept 2022: School is back in now and as such I'm losing my two great workers, Sid & Chance Oler. Hopefully we'll be able to have them help on the weekends. Here they are filling the wheelbarrow with dirt needed to complete leveling the building site area.

August 2022:
Lumber delivered and ground being leveled

06 Sept 2022:
School is back in now and as such I'm losing my two great workers, Sid & Chance Oler. Hopefully we'll be able to have them help on the weekends. Here they are filling the wheelbarrow with dirt needed to complete leveling the building site area.