Fleisher: Major Revovations to Fleisher's Catharine Street facility

Major Renovations at Fleisher:
November 2004 through March 2005

Fleisher ended its Fall 2004 program a tad bit earlier than usual, but for very good reason. Beginning in late November 2004, construction crews descended on the Fleisher Art Memorial to start the long-awaited renovations to our Catharine Street facility. This complicated demolition/construction project was expected to take three months to complete, which we have endeavored to document on this page through photographs and descriptions.

Starting with the Spring 2005 program, Fleisher students noticed a great many improvements, including: a brand new lobby and reception area (rechristened in honor of long-time Fleisher friends and board members Frank and Betty Louchheim), a new facility-wide sprinkler system, an elevator providing access to all five studio levels (basement through fourth floor), air-conditioning for all studios, centralized corridors with restrooms on each floor, and expanded exhibition spaces for faculty and student work throughout. These improvements will provide greater accessibility and allow us to offer a broader range of classes.

We extend special appreciation to all who have supported us throughout the years as we prepared for this long-overdue improvement and expansion program. Your valuable support continues to sustain Fleisher’s historic mission of access to and quality in visual arts education — a mission that now reaches over 3,000 adults and 1,100 children each year.

Renovations to the ground floor include a new lobby entrance, new office spaces, improved restrooms, and — of course — the entrance to the new elevator (at center).

November 2004: Demolition begins

On the morning of Monday, November 22nd, the crew from Clemens Construction Company began the delicate job of marking new doorways and tearing out walls. Old plaster and lathe piled up as the crews went about this task.

Most of the walls in Fleisher's old studio and office spaces were covered with notations marked in bright orange spray paint - and soon after, some of these walls ceased to exist at all. The greatest initial change was evident on the third floor, where the wall that once created a hallway between the front and rear studios is now just a memory.

All of this work was in preparation for the new hallway that runs from east to west between the studios, with the elevator entrance to the left. The second, third and fourth floors each have a matching layout, with a central corridor featuring restrooms and exhibition space. This reorganization of space rationalizes traffic flow and makes all of Fleisher's studios — on every floor — fully wheelchair accessible.

Renovations to the second floor include a centralized corridor, three new sculpture studios, and a new gallery space for faculty in the former location of the School Office.

December 2004:

After the Thanksgiving holiday, the construction crews immediately returned to their work in earnest. With each passing day, more walls were removed, and plaster and lathe began to pile up in ever greater quantities.

Among the first casualties was the Director's former office, which became completely devoid of the walls which once separated it from the staff restroom, the lobby stairwell and the 2nd-floor front studio. This space is now part of the new sculpture studios, which were formerly located in the basement.

Another major change has befallen the former School Office. The floor that once sat directly above Associate Director Nancy Wright's desk was found to be in need of replacement, so the work crews cut a large hole and replaced the joists around the area where the 3rd-floor ladies' room once stood. The former site of the School Office became a new faculty gallery, while the School Office is now located on the ground floor off the main reception lobby.

Other changes include the complete removal of the artist-in-residence apartment which once occupied the third floor of 721 Catharine Street. This space is now part of the newly expanded Fried and Rosenbaum libraries.

Of great interest to anyone who has ever trudged all the way up to the painting studios on the fourth floor only to realize the need for a tube of paint from the supply store four flights down will be the new elevator. In order to make the elevator accessible to all levels — including the basement ceramics studio, the construction crew dug a service pit that extends five feet below the level of the concrete floor of the old sculpture studio. Due to the tight space and low ceiling, work crews were forced to remove earth by the shovelful. The impressive mound of dirt created by this excavation nearly filled the entirety of the former sculpture studio.

The large amount of debris created during the demolition phase necessitated removal by backhoe to a large dump truck waiting in the parking lot.

Just before Christmas, Fleisher received word from the construction manager that the renovation project was on schedule and expected to wrap up as predicted at the end of February — allowing Fleisher to re-open our Catharine Street facility for business in early March. Work on Fleisher's facilities continued right through the holiday season.

The old curved stairwell from the lobby is now gone, as are the walls that once defined the adjacent rooms. For several days one could look down through that void directly into the development office on the third floor, the future location of the Director's office on the second floor (shown above), or the gallery office on the ground floor. The elevator shaft was erected through this area.

The ceiling of the former school office has now been repaired, and the old cabinet on the west wall was been removed for later re-installation on the opposite wall. Here one may see the bright orange markings for the new door that leads from this room (a new exhibition space for faculty artwork) into the central circulation corridor beyond.

While some demolition work remained to be done, a number of construction projects started simultaneously. Most apparent was the stud framing for the new walls on the second, third and fourth floors.

The new layout started to take shape within these skeletal formations. One began to get a sense of how this new floor plan would transform the classroom spaces — such as shown at right, looking east along the new corridor between the fourth floor studios, toward the bell tower.

Renovations to the third floor include more new office space, student lockers in a centralized location, and expansion of the Freid and Rosenbaum libraries.

January 2005:

With the new year, work continued. The framing for the new hallways were in place, the blocks for the elevator service pit were laid, and workmen broke through load-bearing brick walls to create new entryways — such as the doorway-in-progress at right, on the location of the former third-floor ladies' restroom.

Elsewhere in the building — especially around the elevator shaft, one could see that many walls and stairways had been removed to make way for this change. In the photograph below, the view is from the development office looking toward the third floor libraries. The temporary ramp hints at the new catwalk that now connects the main studio level with the somewhat lower level of the main stairwell. One of the challenges in this project has been the need to adjust for floor levels that don't quite match, because Fleisher's facility is a conglomeration of many different structures. This catwalk creates the most notable transition.

This rendering depicts the anticipated look of the new main lobby. The reception and registration area is to the left, next to the school supply store counter. A window (at center) looks out into the park. To the right of that window are new restrooms, and open access to the main stairwell. The gallery office and elevator entrance are towards the right in the drawing.

Despite the snow storms of late January, work continued at Fleisher at a steady pace. With just over a month before we were scheduled to open the Spring 2005 semester, the contractors were on target — and apparently ahead of schedule. (At right is the old site of the director's office, soon to become the new location of the Frank Gasparro Sculpture Studio.)

Most veteran Fleisher students will be extremely excited about the new passenger elevator serving all five studio levels of Fleisher's Catharine Street facility. The main entrance is located in the lobby, slightly behind where the old staircase once stood. (At right one is looking down into the service pit that extends several feet below the level of the concrete slab of the basement new ceramics studio.)

Within a few short days after the above photo was taken, the elevator shaft had been extended as far as the ceiling of the second floor. Within another day or so, the shaft was poking through the roof of the fourth floor studios. The crew hoisted cinderblocks to the upper floors via a pulley mounted on the roof.

Delivery of the elevator itself came shortly thereafter. (Above is the view from the gallery office looking out into the lobby.)

In addition to all the activity centered around the elevator, crews had been busily installing new plumbing and electrical wiring. With much of that work complete, an entire flatbed truck's worth of drywall was fixed in place.

February 2005:

With just about a month left in the project, the pace of work increased — as did the number of contractors on site each day. Traffic frequently came to a standstill on the 700 block of Catharine due to the number of delivery, construction and service vehicles parked in front of Fleisher's main facility.

Some of the major changes taking place inside started to become apparent outside, as well. The openings for the new windows that look out into adjacent Palumbo Park were cut through the exterior wall of 721 Catharine Street in a matter of days. This window will offer neighborhood residents an extra degree of security as there are now many more sets of eyes to keep watch on what happens in the park both day and night.

Meanwhile, a crew from the Philadelphia Water Department was busy working in a trench in front of the main entrance, connecting the pump that will bring in water for Fleisher's new sprinkler system (below).

Inside, the new drywall was in place, and some of it had already been painted. In this photograph, the view is from the new Faculty Gallery (formerly the School Office) looking west down the new hallway that separates the front and rear studios. The elevator is located at the far end.

The design for the new lobby called for a space quite a bit more expansive than the previous incarnation, so it was necessary to install new load-bearing beams to support the weight of the structure above this wider span. Despite the massive size of these girders, the installation progressed quickly and smoothly. One can see these in place in the photograph below.

A preview of the newly enlarged lobby space, looking from the position of the new windows toward the galleries. The Supply Store occupies the space to the right. Beyond that the main reception desk would eventually wrap around the corner toward the front door. Out of frame to the left are the access points to the main stairwell and the new restrooms.

In the last few weeks before Fleisher reopened for classes, work crews kicked into a fever pitch of activity. The sprinkler system had been tested, and the new drywall, light fixtures and plumbing were in place. Some of the new studios spaces look fantastic, such as the new sculpture studio at right. The door to the left leads to the mixed media and casting studio. The door and window at center lead to one of the main stairwells. For a sense of how much has happened to this space over the course of a few short weeks, compare this photo with the same view from January (above).

Some finishing work remained to be done. Most of the painting was finished, but some detail carpentry was still in progress. The view at right is from the new Faculty Gallery. The arch was formerly occupied by an ornate wall cabinet in the old School Office. That cabinet has been reinstalled on the opposite wall.

The one feature that would not be ready in time for the first week of classes was the elevator. There were some complications in the ordering process, which meant a late start on installation — and installing an elevator is a rather intricate process. On Thursday, April 21st, we received the go-ahead from the inspector, and students were able to take their first elevator rides. At long last, our Catharine Street building is now fully accesible on all studio levels!

March 2005:

Classes opened as planned on March 8th, despite the winter storm that kept many people away. The lobby was still a work in progress, and much of the staff was still shuttling back and forth between the temporary winter locations of our offices and the new spaces we would soon occupy. We were also temporarily without access to either telephones or computers, but we managed to get through. At right, students lined up to register in our makeshift version of the School Office.

Although the elevator was not yet ready for passengers, many returning students were delighted with the new studio spaces. Navigation through Fleisher's once maze-like hallways has been greatly simplified, there are restrooms now conveniently located on every floor, and the studios themselves are brightly lit and more comfortable spaces in which to work.

The most dramatic change is that sculptors may now work in spacious and bright studios — above ground! The former sculpture studio in Fleisher's basement has been replaced with three purpose-built studios on the second floor. The former sculpture studio has been rearranged and redesigned for our ceramics program.

In April, Fleisher formally dedicated the newly renovated Frank and Betty Louchheim Lobby in honor of their steadfast support of the institution founded by Frank's great uncle, Samuel S. Fleisher.

Images: Text and photography by James G. Mundie; architectural drawings courtesy of DAS Architects, Inc.