1/15/2010 10:00:00 PM Old Elks fire curtain reveals original artwork
Cindy Barks/ The Daily Courier E&M Rigging's Constance Thompson-Morrell photographs the Elks' century-old fire curtain so that designers can recreate the artwork for the opera house renovation.
PRESCOTT - For nearly 100 years, the asbestos fire curtain stood as a safeguard between the sometimes-combustible activities on the stage of the Elks Opera House and the people in the audience.
Even though it was ready and waiting above the front of the stage, however, never once during the theater's first century was the fire curtain put to use.
While that was good news for the historic theater, it meant that the intricate artwork on the front of the curtain went largely unseen for decades.
This week, consultants working on the restoration of the downtown theater unsealed the 37-foot-by-35-foot curtain, which the city stored away in a capsule in the early 2000s and replaced with a new curtain.
The purpose of the unsealing: to copy the intricate fleur-de-lis, tassels and Elks logo that decorated the front of the curtain.
Theater rigging specialists with E&M Riggings Inc. of Phoenix were on hand Tuesday morning to carefully unroll the curtain to reveal the deep reds, greens and golds in the artwork.
Because the curtain contains asbestos, the city stored it away in 2002. The presence of the hazardous material - a known carcinogen - required the consultants to take extra care, including wearing protective masks and booties.
Administrative Services Director Mic Fenech viewed the unsealing as a rare opportunity to see the hand-painted artwork.
"It might not be opened up again in our lifetime," Fenech said as he watched the workers open the capsule behind the Grace Sparkes Activity Center.
As a well-known fire-retardant in the early 1900s, asbestos was even proudly touted in the original design.
"They wanted the public to feel safe," Fenech said of the prominent placement of the words "asbestos fire-proof curtain" in Old English lettering.
Former Prescott historic preservation specialist Nancy Burgess said theater stages were considered high risk for fires in part because of the abundance of paper and fabric in the sets.
That, combined with the occasional use of fire in performances, caused the need for the fire curtain.
Had a fire started on stage, Burgess said, someone would have cut the hemp rope holding up the fire curtain, and it would have come crashing down from above, helping to confine the fire to the stage area.
Burgess, who retired from the city in December but continues on as a volunteer for the Elks restoration, noted that the hand paintings on the front of the curtain were rarely seen.
"It is a pretty incredible piece of artwork for something that nobody ever sees," she said.
After workers opened the curtain and spread it out on the ground this week, E&M Rigging's vice president Constance Thompson-Morrell took a number of photos of the original designs, while others on the crew measured the dimensions.
Thompson-Morrell now will use those images and dimensions to re-create similar artwork for the grand drape that will be a part of the restored Elks theater.
"The designs will be painted on by a scenic artist," Thompson-Morrell said. "We'll try to get as close to those colors as possible."
Construction on the current theater restoration has been under way since about July 2009, and it should be complete by about April.
The project, which the Elks Opera House Foundation has been working toward for years, got a major boost in 2008 when the Harold James Family Trust contributed $1 million to the foundation's efforts.
Posted: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Article comment by:
trippetta
No worries, lead paint, Chinese poisoning our children and the unveiling of absetos art. Hooray!
Posted: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Article comment by:
John Witte
Who cares about the ladder, I'd like to see the new curtain when its up! If I want to stand on the top step, who are you to say anything? I know the risks involved. Why don't you go worry about something else! Power and control freaks ...
Posted: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Article comment by:
This story is about Prescott history, not OSHA ladder rules!
It is only unsafe to stand on the top of the ladder in California. Come on...they are unrolling an ASBESTOS curtain!! My fear would be falling onto the asbestos curtain and breathing in some of the dust as I fell, not falling off the 3 foot ladder. Do we really need to CENSOR a photo because someone is not following a lawyers statement on a ladder. The statement is only there because someone was uncoordinated, beyond their capability, and fell off and sued the ladder company. Working in construction for many years, I NEVER saw anyone fall from standing on the top step of a ladder. Driving your car to New Frontiers is far more dangerous, but I dont think there are any warnings by the steering wheel in your toyota prius hybrid. Maybe we can make more laws about this and post obvious statements in more places. Lets have the goverment protect us from ourselves.
Posted: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Article comment by:
DeadEyeDick
Standing on the top step of a ladder? A really bad idea.
Posted: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Article comment by:
Kirk Hartley
Interesting story on the theater curtain - I linked to it on my blog - www.globaltort.com
Of more import, there are some guys on flkr who loves photos of old asbestos products. I'm sure they would love to see these pictures. I'm not sure how you reach them because I am not a real flkrs user. They are at http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=34010575@N03&lang=en-us&format=rss_200
Posted: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Article comment by:
azlaydey
This is really exciting to those of us who cherish, restore and preserve historic items.
Posted: Saturday, January 16, 2010
Article comment by:
Safety First...
Come now Courier, have you no sense of safety? Did you see this lady standing on the top shelf of a ladder? I can guarantee there was a notice on that ladder stating one is not to use the top rung as a step. One should never stand on the top of a ladder like that. That is the most common cause for injury on construction sites. Your photo editor should have nixed this photo.
