Start your year by getting involved in a community project.  Come to the Duvall Visitor and Centennial Center on Main Street in Duvall on January 10, 2015 at 11:00am for a Use Planning Session for the Yellow Barn.  We need to hear your ideas!  Good way to start the New Year!

The design of the new facility has been drafted and now we will be looking for additional input on how the barn will be used.  This input will be critical in our efforts to refine the design of the barn to support the Community needs and desires.  We are gathering people together to talk about hopes for the new facility.   The barn needs the community now.

Disassembly of the barn has been successful so far and everything above the ground floor has been carefully removed and lowered to the ground.

Thank you to:

•  Volunteer Connie Zimmerman, project manager for keeping us all going in the same direction;
• Volunteer Wendy Coopman, field construction manager for her good ideas, willingness to stand out in the cold, and perseverance;
• Volunteer Adam Henry Schwinn of Adam’s Auto Angel for excellent on-site photography and problem solving; and
• Cooks Structural Movers who are doing a wonderful careful job of disassembling the barn

Great work team!!!!

Expect to see part of the first floor of the barn come down next week.

Some fun items that were found include several pitchforks, a broken sling shot, and some old hardware.  These items will be saved in the Duvall Foundation for the Art’s storage locker and will be displayed in the Yellow Barn.

Happy Holidays everyone.   Enjoy time with your family and friends and then come engage with your community on January 10, 2015 at 11am, Duvall Visitor and Centennial Center.  See you there!

For more information please visit our Big Yellow Barn page!

Call out to the Community  Jan 10, 2015 11:00am

Your opinion counts!!!!

Please come to the Duvall Visitor and Centennial Center on Main Street in Duvall on January 10, 2015 at 11:00am for a Use Planning Session for the new Yellow Barn.   The design of the new facility has been drafted and now we will be looking for additional input on how the barn will be used.  This input will be critical in our efforts to refine the design of the barn to support the Community needs and desires.  We are gathering people together to talk about hopes for the new facility.   The barn needs the community now.

Disassembly of the barn is going very well!    Thank you to:

• Volunteer Connie Zimmerman, project manager for keeping us all going in the same direction;
• Volunteer Wendy Coopman, field construction manager for her good ideas, willingness to stand out in the cold, and perseverance;
• Volunteer Adam Henry Schwinn of Adam’s Auto Angel for excellent on-site photography and problem solving; and
• Cooks Structural Movers who are doing a wonderful careful job of disassembling the barn.

Good news!!   The wood from the loft appears to be in better condition than we anticipated.

Expect to see the rest of the loft and the North Wall of the barn to come down next week.

Happy Holidays everyone.   Enjoy time with your family and friends and then come engage with your community on January 10, 2015 at 11am, Duvall Visitor and Centennial Center.  See you there!

Photos courtesy of Adam Schwinn of Adam’s Auto Angel.

Duvall Foundation for the Arts is disassembling the Thayer Barn along Highway 203 in order to recover architectural elements (like doors, windows, and cupolas) and wood that will be reused in the new Yellow Barn. The Yellow Barn will be a community art center. Work on the barn today was a great success. The cupolas were removed with no damage. The roofing is removed from the southern end of the barn. The skip sheathing was so rotten that it came off with the roofing material. A few trusses were removed. You will see in the next few days additional roofing and trusses coming down. The goal is to save the trusses and the wood framing that you can see in the pictures to the extent practical.

Several people have asked if they can have the wood we are salvaging from the barn. The Duvall Foundation for the Arts is recovering the wood from the barn to be used in the new Yellow Barn to be enjoyed by the community. We are not expecting to have excess wood because the new facility will be three stories and this barn is only two stories. We understand that people value the old wood, and we are excited that folks want to be engaged with the project.

Come join us at the visitor’s center this coming Saturday on Main Street at 11:00am if you are interested in the project, want more information, have ideas or can lend a hand. If you have thoughts on how the new Yellow Barn can be used please join us on Saturday January 10, 2015 at the visitors center for a special meeting on that topic. Come join the discussion.

Please check out our website to find out more about the barn. http://duvallarts.org/big-yellow-barn/

Photos courtesy of Adam Schwinn of Adam’s Auto Angel.

Sorry for the delay in getting this update out to the community!

Cook Structural Movers have begun to disassemble the barn as planned.  Last week the south face of the barn sustained additional damage and has been taken down.  This week there will be considerable change to the appearance of the barn. Check here for updates.

We are getting ready to meet with folks on January 10, 2015, at 11am at the Duvall Visitor and Centennial Center to gather input on how the new yellow barn will be used.  This input is critical to the design of the new barn.  The new barn will have to meet current code for public assembly so we have some design constraints in order to meet modern codes.   Please join us if at all possible.  The exterior design is pretty well set.  These discussions are critical and will drive the interior design.  This is your chance to help with the planning of the yellow barn.  We are looking forward to the conversation!!!

This week we received the results from the environmental firm that tested the painted wood on the barn for lead content.  Both the yellow paint and the white paint have some lead content.  The wood that is truly rotten and therefore can not be reused will go to a landfill.  The wood we are keeping will be stored and the knowledge we have of the lead content will be used to develop safe work practices regarding the handling of the wood.  Also the environmental firm and King County Green Tools will be advising us on how to address the paint with lead content when we reuse the wood in the new barn.

Upcoming meetings:

• Saturday, December 20, 11:00am Visitor Center Rose Room (downstairs)
• Saturday, December 27, no meeting
• Saturday, January 3, 2015, 11:00am Visitor Center
• Saturday, January 10, 2015, 11:00am Use Planning Meeting Visitor Center
• Ongoing meetings Saturday 11:00am Visitor Center in 2015

A new Frequently Asked Questions page has been added to our Big Yellow Barn section. Click here to visit!

Have you noticed the new banner at the barn site??

Wonder what is going on??

The DFA has awarded a local contractor, the Cooks, a contract to dismantle the barn to save architectural elements and materials that will be reused in the new community arts building. You will see construction equipment moving onto the site soon. You will see the top loft of the barn being taken apart.  The goal is to place the recovered materials in the first floor of the barn which will be stabilized to store the materials. If you love the barn, don’t despair, instead come to our meeting at 11am on Saturday December 13, at the Duvall Visitor and Centennial Center on Main Street (in old library building). We would love to see you and talk with you about the barn and the future of the project. For those that are interested in the wood from the barn, we are saving it for the new facility to be enjoyed by the whole community. Some of the wood is completely rotten and will be disposed of.  Wood that might be reused or is questionable for reuse will be saved for future processing. More information to come soon! Check here for updates. This is the beginning of a new life for The Big Yellow Barn. And remember, if you’re interested in helping, but don’t have the time to come to meetings, you can still contribute financially by visiting our GoFundMe page!

Another good week for the barn.  Plans are underway to approve a contract to disassemble the barn.  The structural engineer’s report has been submitted to DFA, and the structural engineer confirms disassembly of the barn is a practical approach.  King County TV has offered to develop a piece on the barn to be aired on their channel.  King County Councilmember Lambert continues to offer her support.  Our next meeting is on Saturday at 11am.  Please come if you want to hear the latest on the barn or if you can lend a hand.  Expect another news update this week. And remember, if you’d like to help financially, please visit our GoFundMe page!