Saturday, May 05, 2007

Benjamin Knox Art Center Construction

We Are well underway with the construction of the additions to the gallery- an exciting new art center that will have an amazing impact on the cultural aspects of the Bryan/College Station community! The name will be officially changed to the Benjamin Knox Art Center. It will consist of the existing gallery, Terrazzo Coffee and Wine Bar, a bookstore/gift shop that will promote local authors, a custom framing facility, and an event center. The event center will be available for rental and also serve the public for art exhibits, concerts, and classes (including wine tastings)!

I spent the past two years developing the concept plan and building designs. It's exciting to see my vision and construction drawings coming to life! Quinn Williams is the contractor, Earl Havel is the civil engineer, and Larry Berry is the structural engineer. They are great to work with and are open to ideas and changes that better the design during the construction phase. This past week, the city required changes that kept me up 48 hours straight to redesign one of the buildings. Several people have commented that “we have persevered although there have been many delays due to difficulties with the city. That's good, because this is going to be a great asset to the city."

Carlos and his concrete crew have been working their tails off. We have had over 15 concrete trucks over the past week. This is when the project comes to life and starts to get really fun. Construction is scheduled to be completed by September, in time for football season. The grand opening celebration is scheduled for the weekend of October 26, 2007 (A&M/ Kansas game) and will have a public ceremony. I'm saving an 18 liter bottle of very fine Italian wine (serves 100 people) for the event along with 20 gallons of Blue Bell Ice Cream!