Exterior Work

The new stonework on the front of the building is creating a complete transformation. The front of the building had a section of brick that was not original, which was somewhat of an eyesore. The new sandstone matches the existing stone base and creates a beautiful new look. Although the exterior of the building looks like a train wreck, we can really start to see our vision taking shape.

We began taking down the center staircase. Our hope is to salvage as much of the brick as possible, to use for the new bathroom addition on the back of the building.

The beginning of the atrium

The framing for the interior office space is complete and the atrium is beginning to take form. The structural support for the atrium is done, and the floor supports have been cut. Now, the staircase in the center of the building needs to be removed. The hole in the first floor will be surrounded by a half wall, which will finish off the space between the first and second floors. The second floor ceiling will have a large skylight to let in large amounts of natural lighting. Once the staircase is removed, we should have a grand entry!

Halloween!

The Windsor Chamber of Commerce hosted a "Trick-or-Treat" event during the afternoon of Halloween. Even though we don't have a business open yet, we still decided to participate. We set up a nice display of straw and cornstalks and had a large supply of chocolate eyeballs. To our surprise, the event was a huge success. Other businesses estimated between 800 and 1,000 kids in attendance. The sidewalks of downtown Windsor were packed with cute costumes and happy kids. We had a great response from the participants. A lot of people asked when we intend to open, some people were curious about the renovation project and we even had a few tell us that they were excited to come see us when we open up.

In the process of preparing for concrete work, we found an original coal shoot with a huge beautiful piece of limestone. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by structural stone, so we were unable to take it out. We covered it with dirt and plastic before the concrete was poured in an attempt to salvage the limestone. We are hoping to go back in a some point to undermine it out of its current location to use for something decorative in the building.

The sub flooring almost complete in the first floor. It is nice to finally have progress that makes the building look better.

The steel columns are in place. Now we just need to place the beams across the top and the structural work on the first floor will be complete. We also finished framing out the new bathroom on the back of the building. This bathroom addition will be surrounded by matching red brick with a copper metal roof to match the other accents on the exterior of the building. We started to lay subfloor today.

Downtown Windsor Creepy Crawl

The Windsor Historic Preservation Committee hosts an event called the "Creepy Crawl", where the community is invited to tour downtown historic buildings. Unfortunately, our building is not fit for interior viewing. We took a picture of the couple sharing history about the Yancey Building. Brent is already planning big things for next year's "Creepy Crawl".

Vision Expo - Las Vegas

We left for Las Vegas this morning for the Vision Expo. The plan is to make all of the important equipment purchase decisions in the next three days. Brent will have the opportunity to test all of the equipment to determine which pieces will work best for his practice. We will also have the opportunity to view all of the latest fashions in frames and optical goods.