THe Pixy made it through the Edinburgh Fall Festival with honor. We opened it up on Friday night so people could see the progress and about 200 folks wandered through. We showed cartoons on the theater screen for the kids but I imagine there were as many adults sitting around, too.
We hosted the Little Prince and Princess Pageant on-stage. Every seat was filled and we hurried to remove boxes from the balcony to make more room. I went into my office on the house-right side of the balcony to find a dozen people there as well. What a hoot.
Still working hard to make this thing happen by the Festival of Lights on December 12-13th. We’re planning some unique and classy music for the weekend. Hopefully the website will be up by the end of the month so everyone can check out the schedule of events.
Major appreciation to the Pixy crew, especially Judy Chandler.
To date the following has been accomplished (from the top down): Roof repaired and sealed; new collectors and downspouts; all third and second floor rooms plastered, primed and painted; new electrical conduits and lighting installed; all third floor carpet, vinyl and tiles removed and southern yellow pine floors sanded, stained and polyurethaned; eighteen custom-reproduction windows and sills installed on third and second floors and in stairwells by Bee Windows of Indpls (fabulous job); second floor bathroom expanded to include seven(7) new stalls + urinals; new baseboard electric heat on second floor (none before); all doors and woodwork throughout building stripped down to their original cherry, oak and curly maple finish; new drapes purchased for third floor Lecture and Great Hall; all third floor benches stripped and currently being reupholstered by Bayles (Seymour); new stage lights in Pixy Theater (by TRM Electrical of Edinburgh); Aeolian organ in Great Hall renovated by John Goulding of Indiana State Historical Organ Society (incredible sound!).
I’ll be in town from Sept 6th through Oct 3rd with a few friends finishing up some detail work. All the lights, cabinets, drapes and fixtures have been delivered to finish the lobby, the third floor kitchen and all the bathrooms. The Endinburgh Little Prince and Princess Pageant will be held (in conjunction with the Fall Festival) at The Edinburgh Pixy on Saturday Sept 19th around 12:30pm, so come on by after you have the chicken dinner at the Lions Club across the street.
Thanks for your comments and memories. To update you all, this site does not let me post photos, but we’ll have a website up pretty soon, aka www.TheEdinburghPixy.org I’ll keep posting progress photos but to date here’s where we are:
New replacement windows in the third floor Lodge area custom built by Bee Windows to match the originals;
Third floor Lodge area 75% complete with all walls, ceilings, etc. stripped, primed and painted.
All woodwork in the Lodge area (i.e., baseboards, windoew frames, six-panel oak dors, etc) stripped of paint and natural wood preserved.
All carpet, vinyl and adhesive removed from southern yellow pine floors (whew!) and floors sanded and ready to receive stain and poly coat.
Yep, the cartoon figures on the North wall of the lobby as you walk in are mostly Looney Tunes, although there’s a Pluto as well. There’s a Peter and the Wolf on the South wall, somewhat faded over the years and Mickey Mouse is still in the closet. I’m intrigued by the suggestion that there are other Looney figures as well… they must be on the south wall which is still covered by paneling.
Our intention is to preserve these figures as much as possible.
The rest of the theater is pretty much the way it has been for the last 40 years. There is a lot of electrical work to be done so that the stage and house lights can be operated from one panel.
Unlike the Artcraft in Franklin and the Crump in Columbus, we are not getting grants nor is our work being accomplished by volunteers; part of the responsibility of ownership (I feel) is to involve the community and to that end, I’m employing locals who are out of work and paying them to do the work myself.
Again, thanks for your interest. Stop by anytime… someone is generally there between 8 and 3 on weekdays. Keep the comments coming.
I bought the former Masonic Lodge #100 / Pixy Theater in July of 2008. I live in San Diego, but also own a portion of the family farm (from the 1870’s) on the Flat Rock River, known as the Owens-Forrest Riparian Preserve. I also have a home just south of Edinburgh, where my mother, Particia (Rambo) Harding grew up.
The downstairs portion of the building will continue to be known as the Pixy and will be begin hosting live music and theater concurrent with the Edinburgh Fall Festival in 2009. The theater still contains two original 1927 Peerless carbon arc lamp projectors, seating for 150 and two stages. Original Disney art on the walls of the lobby was recently uncovered and appears to be in original condition and capable of restoration and preservation.
The upper portion of the building will be known as the Owens-Forrest Environmental Institute named in honor of my family (Owens) and my late wife (Carol Forrest). The second and third floors are comprised of a lecture hall, full industrial kitchen, parlors, dressing rooms, men’s and ladies lavatories, ladies lounge and a large “chapel” suitable for weddings and receptions. The chapel’s main feature is its 1927 Aeolian Organ, one of the largest of residential organs ever built and orginally moved from the Levi Mansion in Indianapolis.
The OFEI will be open for business in July 2009 and will initially host a series of environmental restoration courses, workshops and symposia. I am an environmental scientist (Purdue graduate) that does land restoration work worldwide. My faculty for these workshops will be professional associates of mine who are experts in various aspects of environmental protection, such as air and water quality, erosion and sediment control, wildlife habitat establishment and other disciplines.
The lecture hall and other meeting rooms will be made available to community groups and are suitable for all manner of activities, including weddings, etc.
From Mike:
THe Pixy made it through the Edinburgh Fall Festival with honor. We opened it up on Friday night so people could see the progress and about 200 folks wandered through. We showed cartoons on the theater screen for the kids but I imagine there were as many adults sitting around, too.
We hosted the Little Prince and Princess Pageant on-stage. Every seat was filled and we hurried to remove boxes from the balcony to make more room. I went into my office on the house-right side of the balcony to find a dozen people there as well. What a hoot.
Still working hard to make this thing happen by the Festival of Lights on December 12-13th. We’re planning some unique and classy music for the weekend. Hopefully the website will be up by the end of the month so everyone can check out the schedule of events.
Major appreciation to the Pixy crew, especially Judy Chandler.
We proceed onward…
Mike
From Mike Harding:
Just an update on renovation progress at The Edinburgh Pixy. We’ve incorporated a non-profit 501© corporation called “The Owens-Forrest Environmental Institute” as the business entity for the property, of which “The Edinburgh Pixy” is a for-profit Indiana Corporation.
To date the following has been accomplished (from the top down): Roof repaired and sealed; new collectors and downspouts; all third and second floor rooms plastered, primed and painted; new electrical conduits and lighting installed; all third floor carpet, vinyl and tiles removed and southern yellow pine floors sanded, stained and polyurethaned; eighteen custom-reproduction windows and sills installed on third and second floors and in stairwells by Bee Windows of Indpls (fabulous job); second floor bathroom expanded to include seven(7) new stalls + urinals; new baseboard electric heat on second floor (none before); all doors and woodwork throughout building stripped down to their original cherry, oak and curly maple finish; new drapes purchased for third floor Lecture and Great Hall; all third floor benches stripped and currently being reupholstered by Bayles (Seymour); new stage lights in Pixy Theater (by TRM Electrical of Edinburgh); Aeolian organ in Great Hall renovated by John Goulding of Indiana State Historical Organ Society (incredible sound!).
I’ll be in town from Sept 6th through Oct 3rd with a few friends finishing up some detail work. All the lights, cabinets, drapes and fixtures have been delivered to finish the lobby, the third floor kitchen and all the bathrooms. The Endinburgh Little Prince and Princess Pageant will be held (in conjunction with the Fall Festival) at The Edinburgh Pixy on Saturday Sept 19th around 12:30pm, so come on by after you have the chicken dinner at the Lions Club across the street.
We Proceed Onward…
Mike
From Mike Harding:
Thanks for your comments and memories. To update you all, this site does not let me post photos, but we’ll have a website up pretty soon, aka www.TheEdinburghPixy.org I’ll keep posting progress photos but to date here’s where we are:
New replacement windows in the third floor Lodge area custom built by Bee Windows to match the originals;
Third floor Lodge area 75% complete with all walls, ceilings, etc. stripped, primed and painted.
All woodwork in the Lodge area (i.e., baseboards, windoew frames, six-panel oak dors, etc) stripped of paint and natural wood preserved.
All carpet, vinyl and adhesive removed from southern yellow pine floors (whew!) and floors sanded and ready to receive stain and poly coat.
Yep, the cartoon figures on the North wall of the lobby as you walk in are mostly Looney Tunes, although there’s a Pluto as well. There’s a Peter and the Wolf on the South wall, somewhat faded over the years and Mickey Mouse is still in the closet. I’m intrigued by the suggestion that there are other Looney figures as well… they must be on the south wall which is still covered by paneling.
Our intention is to preserve these figures as much as possible.
The rest of the theater is pretty much the way it has been for the last 40 years. There is a lot of electrical work to be done so that the stage and house lights can be operated from one panel.
Unlike the Artcraft in Franklin and the Crump in Columbus, we are not getting grants nor is our work being accomplished by volunteers; part of the responsibility of ownership (I feel) is to involve the community and to that end, I’m employing locals who are out of work and paying them to do the work myself.
Again, thanks for your interest. Stop by anytime… someone is generally there between 8 and 3 on weekdays. Keep the comments coming.
Mike
From Mike Harding:
I bought the former Masonic Lodge #100 / Pixy Theater in July of 2008. I live in San Diego, but also own a portion of the family farm (from the 1870’s) on the Flat Rock River, known as the Owens-Forrest Riparian Preserve. I also have a home just south of Edinburgh, where my mother, Particia (Rambo) Harding grew up.
The downstairs portion of the building will continue to be known as the Pixy and will be begin hosting live music and theater concurrent with the Edinburgh Fall Festival in 2009. The theater still contains two original 1927 Peerless carbon arc lamp projectors, seating for 150 and two stages. Original Disney art on the walls of the lobby was recently uncovered and appears to be in original condition and capable of restoration and preservation.
The upper portion of the building will be known as the Owens-Forrest Environmental Institute named in honor of my family (Owens) and my late wife (Carol Forrest). The second and third floors are comprised of a lecture hall, full industrial kitchen, parlors, dressing rooms, men’s and ladies lavatories, ladies lounge and a large “chapel” suitable for weddings and receptions. The chapel’s main feature is its 1927 Aeolian Organ, one of the largest of residential organs ever built and orginally moved from the Levi Mansion in Indianapolis.
The OFEI will be open for business in July 2009 and will initially host a series of environmental restoration courses, workshops and symposia. I am an environmental scientist (Purdue graduate) that does land restoration work worldwide. My faculty for these workshops will be professional associates of mine who are experts in various aspects of environmental protection, such as air and water quality, erosion and sediment control, wildlife habitat establishment and other disciplines.
The lecture hall and other meeting rooms will be made available to community groups and are suitable for all manner of activities, including weddings, etc.
For more information about my activities and the Lodge/Pixy you can visit www.greatcircleint.com, www.flightofdiscovery.com or contact me at
Mike Harding