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	140th Year... and still on the job!	Saturday November 03, 2007

Foundation specialist shoring up Florence theater

The Rialto Theater originally was built in Florence as an opera house.

By TRACY HARMON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

FLORENCE - Vern Craig's name is prominently displayed on the Rialto Theater marquee, but it's not because of his acting skills. He is saving the 84-year-old building from a foundation breakdown.

For Craig, owner of Colorado Grouting in Pueblo West, it is a challenging problem: the theater was built in 1923 and sits on an uneven hand-mixed concrete foundation supported by river rocks. The theater is enormous, with 16-inch-thick brick walls and a 50-foot "fly tower," which was built at the back of the theater to accommodate the lowering and raising of backdrops and curtains.

CHIEFTAIN PHOTOS/TRACY HARMON

Vern Craig of Colorado Grouting stands underneath the stage of the 84-year-old Rialto Theater in Florence.

"It is a historically important part of the building, I am told, because there are fewer than 20 fly towers in the nation of that height. It's five stories," said Suzanne Phipps, who is overseeing the renovation for Florence Architectural and Cultural Traditions.

So the question was not whether to continue work to save the aging structure, located at 209 W. Main, but how.

Craig, and his 37 years of business experience, came up with a plan to strengthen the foundation and expand the stage. He and his sons, Michael and Trevor, and their 15 employees have spent the past six weeks drilling 14 steel-helical piers into the ground alongside the building. They drive each metal support 45 feet deep so that it is anchored in bed rock. The piers are then connected to the building walls with brackets.

In order to strengthen the small stage, meant for use by small troupes of opera performers in the 1920s, the crew has used a skid loader to dig out more than 100 tons of dirt from underneath the stage. When that work is done, a 5-foot high shelf wall can be installed.

Foreman Nick Higgs moves away as part of the Rialto's foundation is removed from beneath the stage.

The shelf wall will make the stage sturdier and also connect to two of the steel piers for added stabilization. The space under the stage also can be used for changing costumes or storing props.

"It's a nasty, dirty type of job and it's a challenge," Craig said. "But these guys get a big kick out of working on this stuff."

For Phipps, it's been a budgetary nightmare. She was just preparing to put the finishing touches on the building like paint, sconces and curtains. But the stabilization project, sewer lines and other work has drained the last $148,000 in the budget.

"I don't know where I'll get the money to finish this building," Phipps said. "But it's not going to stop now. We are too close to the end."