EVERY DAY IS ONE DAY CLOSER

I visited our Princess today and was amazed at how much the restoration crew has cleaned up since my last visit.  Yes, it’s still quite dirty inside, but at least the floor is now dry and you can even see some color through the dust.  I remember how the Princess looked back in the late 60’s and early 70’s, but if I understand the plans, the Princess will look even better than that period.

The roof, as I’ve posted, is on tight and there should be no more rain coming down inside.  The men were tapping chalk lines on the dry auditorium floor when I walked in today.  I don’t know what the line is for, but possibly it’s the line to which the stage will be extended.

I missed seeing them remove the old “silver screen” by a couple of hours, but now the old stage has been completely revealed.  I think the plans call for extending the old stage out quite a distance, so that there is adequate room for plays and stage shows.  I can hardly wait to see some theatrical or musical production on the new stage.  It’s almost too exciting for me to image…it’s like waiting for Christmas as a young boy!

Clearly, there is a lot of work yet to be done, but believe me, the first time I visited the interior of the Princess about 2 years ago, I would not have believed anything could be done to dress her up for company!  Now, seeing the floor dry, and some of the old color peeping through, it is more than promising!

Along the walls of the theater, either in the lobby, in the auditorium, or even up in the mezzanine level, you can see some of the many old colors the Princess wore in her day.  I don’t know which of these colors will be duplicated for the grand opening, but regardless she’s going to be beautiful!

Would it not be great to have a properly lighted digital photo of all the grand color schemes from all her eras?  I think that’s one reason I feel my documentation is so important.  You and I will take it all for granted, after a time, but someday someone will want to look back at the color scheme the Princess débuted in 2011!  The historical record we make over the course of this restoration will possibly be more important to future generations.  Such a record of the past would be invaluable to Frank Sparkman today.

So, we can see progress on our dream.  Every day is a day closer to our Princess’ 85^th birthday party!