January 31, 2013

Technical Director Jim Nash managed the work of replacing the floor of the Duke Family Performance Hall.

The Duke Family Performance Hall Frazier Stage got a "floor lift" over winter break that puts a gleam back in its style. The hall's original 6,000-square-foot fir floor was installed during construction of the Knobloch Campus Center, and was christened with performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company. But a dozen years of stout service as the underpinning of some of the college's premier events took their toll. "The old floor was looking like someone blasted it with a shotgun," said Jim Nash, technical director of the Duke Family Performance Hall.

The college decided to replace the floor during winter break with a harder, more durable surface of white oak. Nash was in charge of the project, and planned every step of the process with quality and community welfare in mind. He maintained three imperatives in his search for a contractor-the bidder had to be a small business, local, and be a friend of the college who understood the facility's importance in college life.

Little Floor Covering of Davidson fit the profile. Proprietor David Little grew up in town, played on campus as a youngster and supports Wildcat sports as an adult.

"David understood my perception of the hall as a crucially important campus space," said Nash. "This is where the community gathers for all our important events. The floor plays host to all our major arts performances, major speakers, announcements of presidents and presidential announcements of major gifts. The state of the floor on which all that occurs really reflects the state of the college."

Nash also noted its importance as a resource for student dancers, actors and musicians. "For a lot of them, this is the finest stage on which they'll ever perform," he said. "We want it to be perfect for them."

Pieces of the battered and torn old floor are available from Nash's office for souvenir hunters.

The new floor is comprised of several layers. At the bottom, a layer of ¾ inch plywood rests on rows of "sleeper" two-by-fours that provide the same springiness as the Belk Arena basketball floor. Then comes a thin layer of luan plywood, a paper moisture barrier, and finally the ¾ inch tongue-and-groove white oak boards. The oak was sanded and coated with a coffee-brown stain and several coats of protective polyurethane.

Davidsonians from throughout cyberspace kept up with the construction via a DFPH Facebook page, and dozens of people scavenged pieces of the old Frazier stage floor to repurpose for writing pens, a coffee table, and simple souvenir blocks. Nash said he still has plenty of the salvaged, scarred boards for those who want them.

Oak is a much harder wood than fir, so Nash expects the new floor to last at least 25 years, especially since he's arranged for Little Floor Covering to perform annual maintenance work.

And though it looks impressively unblemished now, Nash doesn't intend to baby the floor. "We'll be taking it out on the freeway and driving it fast from the get-go!" he said. "You have to be able to use it rather than just look at it." Upcoming productions will require that metal plates be screwed into it, and sets for plays be nailed down. The Artist Series performers Diavolo Dance Theatre will give it an early test through their use of a one-ton boat-shaped prop they will rock all over the stage.

Looking out over the 75-foot width of the floor from stage left, Nash said he was completely satisfied with the results. The softly gleaming, pristine surface looked pure as a virgin ice rink. Nash said he wanted to just hug it. "It rises to the quality of the room now," he said. "We're ready to go!"

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,900 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.
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