It's been an incredibly busy year so far and there's so much to look forward to for 2016. To give an update, I've been doing a lot of work for Pacific Builders, a local building company responsible for the restoration of the historic Carson Block Building in Old Town Eureka, a project I've kept mostly under wraps for the last 6 months. The first photo below is of the theater, still waiting to be fully restored at a future date.
Walking onto a large project the first few times is a humbling experience, but as a photographer it's oddly satisfying. You hear the sound of nails piercing wood, sparks flying from welding torches as busy workers shuffle past up the scaffolds to continue work on the outside. At every corner is an intersection of history, the old chipping paint and flooring being sanded down, soon to be replaced and restored to their original glory. Early morning sunlight streams through holes that will soon be windows and bounces through the job site fences to create light patterns on the walls. While I entered this building thinking it would be amazing because of the theater (which it was), I found myself amazed at how the light travels through the turrets on the outside and the amazing view over old town and the bay.
For those interested in a detail of the process, the Carson Block wasn't up to earthquake code before the restorations, but as a requirement of the project, any structural supports had to be added to the inside to preserve the historical exterior. This meant hoisting massive metal beams up and through the windows, then cutting holes between floors to position and install them. This is one of the few unconventional challenges of the project and it's a project I thoroughly enjoyed seeing progress.
