Thomasson at the Kennedy Center

A "Useless Doorway" Thomasson

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

A colleague recently introduced me to the concept of Thomasson, and I realized I've enjoyed seeking them out for much of my life! What is a Thomasson, you may ask? From the Super Ordinary Life blog: "Thomasson are essentially useless architectural remnants left behind as our cities evolve and expand. At times these Thomasson are oddly well maintained and other times, they are left to deteriorate."

Former water fountain, previously featured in
Architectural Archaeology: Kennedy Center II

Thomasson fits into what I've been calling Architectural Archaeology. They both give a look into how things were before the present. The focus with Thomasson is on visually apparent remnants. With Architectural Archaeology, I've used it more broadly, so some of my remnants only are apparent as remnants when you consider the Center overall, old photos, and/or blueprints. Some of the things I have featured are still functioning, and aren't useless at all! Today, however, I want to focus my attention solely on Thomasson. So here are some I've found at the Center:

Useless Door

A "Useless Doorway" Thomasson

At the top of this post, I featured this picture of a doorway walled off. This used to be one of many doors into the Theater Lab from the Atrium. When the Theater Lab was reconfigured in 2012, it moved its entrance and, no longer needing the doors, built walls behind them. While they are locked most of the time, occasionally you can find them unlocked, and can pretend to make your grand entrance through these large slabs of wood. Just watch out for the wall on the other side. 

"There were bells on a hill, but I never heard them ringing"

Alarm Bell

During the winter months of the Kennedy Center closure due to COVID, I sometimes meandered around the empty parking garage via scooter. On one of my excursions, I noticed there was an alarm bell that was clearly inoperable. Its power cord cut, it hangs as a reminder to fire safety days gone by.

Close-up on the bell

Missing Sanitary System

In one men's staff bathroom I frequent, there is a little sign explaining how to operate the fancy technology the toilet seat has. Or had. The sign's still up, but the toilet seat is normal. The juxtaposition of this situation is heightened by the fact that you have to stare right at the sign for a (sometimes lengthy) time on the very toilet the sign is supposed to be describing. 

Close-up on the sign

 

"For your convenience and Protection

SANITARY TOILET SEAT

After use, the plastic cover is destroyed and can never be reused. 

Please notify Management if seat is out of plastic or malfunctioning.

PUSH RED BUTTON ONCE BEFORE USE

For a new sleeve of sanitary plastic

Bella Bagno Inc."

Bella Bagno Inc is still around, offering their Sanitary Toilet Seat System.

Here is also a 19-20 second video showcasing another brand's similar sanitary system:

Bonus: No Smoking?

So this is what I'm going to call a gray area. Is it useless? Not sure. It might still be in use! This is an ashtray in a mechanical room. More specifically, it's one of (if not THE) last ash tray in a mechanical room. 

Smoking in the United States was a lot more commonplace in the Kennedy Center's early decades. The Kennedy Center used to sell KC-branded matchboxes, ashtrays, and lighters. The opening performance program even featured a full page Marlboro ad on the back cover! It wasn't until the 1990's and 2000's that smoking became prominently stigmatized and legislated against. Smoking at the Center became permissible in only certain locations, and definitely not inside the building. Ash trays like this one were removed. But this one was not.

Ash tray with cigarettes

With cigarettes still present in the tray, it's unclear to know if it is truly out-of-use. You would have to figure out how old the cigarettes are. Not a skill I know how to do. Or want to do.

What Thomasson can you find in the built world around you? Keep your eyes peeled!

Thank you to Scott Bushnell for sending me the Thomasson article! Thank you also to Kate Roberts for showing me the old ash tray!

Architectural Archaeology: Kennedy Center II

Kennedy Center in snow, January 2019

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

As usual, I'm procrastinating other personal writing projects. So we're at this again with entirely new spots around the Kennedy Center! For some reason, they're all about wall features. Didn't plan it, that's just what it ended up being. Enjoy...

PAYPHONES

I alluded to this last time: Where are the payphones? They used to be everywhere. When cell phones became common in everyone's pockets, payphones were deemed superfluous. Most were either taken down or abandoned.

As a building from the 1970's, the Kennedy Center most certainly had payphones. Today, there none still on the walls.* As someone who arrived at the Center post-payphones, I have absolutely no idea where they were located. Except...

While perusing eBay, I found one unusual clue: a September 2000 Program.

September 2000 Kennedy Center Stagebill program for the Balanchine Celebration.
Caption inside: A member of the Bolshoi Ballet takes time for a phone call before a
performance of Don Quixote. Photo by Carol Pratt.

I love old Kennedy Center programs. Their cover photos range from architectural beauty shots to quirky ideas like this. This sort of situation could only happen to you at the Kennedy Center!

So where is this photo taken? There are a couple clues. The marble floor, the "Teatro Scala" poster, the Bolshoi Ballet dancer. Bolshoi Ballet usually performs in the Opera House. Most previous show posters at the KC are only displayed in backstage areas. Marble floors are usually only in public areas. 

The answer is the Opera House Stage Door Lobby. It's a liminal space, the gateway from the public Hall of Nations to the private backstage. Somehow, the Teatro Scala still seems to be in the same spot that it was in 2000!

Corner of the Opera House Stage Door lobby

Under the poster is even two covered outlet covers, exactly where payphones were located in the 2000 program cover.

The former payphone location.
Note the two outlet covers.

It's also interesting to note the lighting reflection on the Teatro Scala poster in 2000. It's circular, like the lights that still hang in the Opera House Stage Door's Inner Antechamber. Now in 2021, the lights are modern fluorescents. 

* There is one staff member who has a Kennedy Center payphone at their desk, but I don't believe it is plugged in/operating.


WATER FOUNTAIN

In a storage room by the Atrium is this odd, boxy protrusion sticking out from the wall. It is sometimes used as a shelf.

It appears to be an old water fountain, just covered up! This area used to be part of a large bathroom complex next to the Atrium. For some reason, this fountain was never removed from the wall.

Taped-over water fountain spigot

The black and gold polished rock is gorgeous. It's interesting to see how features, like water fountains, have changed over the decades, and thus change the feel of the built environment. 

GOLDEN FIRE ALARM

For some reason, the Kennedy Center has different colored fire alarms throughout the building. You have your standard red fire alarms in the Grand Foyer:

Red Fire Alarm in the Grand Foyer

When you go upstairs, the Nations and States Galleries' fire alarms are white.

White Fire Alarm in the Nations Gallery

And then in the Atrium and Atrium Foyers are fire alarms that are gold colored.

Gold Fire Alarm in an Atrium Foyer

Gold fire alarm in the Atrium

The different colors are most likely due to renovations that happened at different times. Out of the three colors, I'm really digging the gold ones. Red is standard, everyone understands they have to be there so it's permissible. But now with other colors available... my response to red fire alarms is Ryan Gosling saying "Be better than the Gap" from Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011). Let's bring our fire alarm game up a notch! White is nicely camouflaged on top of the marble, but won't work as well with wood paneling or beige walls. Gold, though, is part of the color scheme throughout the building. They blend in very nicely. Just the right detail. Still stands out, but fits in to the surroundings.

WALL CARPET NO MORE

I regret to announce my favorite administrative hallway stretch will no longer feature wall carpet. After decades of service (I'm willing to bet almost 50 years), they pulled the carpet down last week. It wasn't anything special, just a thick beige wall carpet, but its anachronistic dated style made me happy.

Some before pictures from a month or so ago:

(It was hard for me to photograph)

Wall Carpet detail on right. 

And then here is the hallway right after they tore it down:

Wall detail, interesting pattern created
from ripping carpet off the wall

Wall carpet rolled up, waiting to head for the dumpster
The edge had a metal frame around it

They've done more work on the hallway since these pictures, it won't be left in that state. It'll just be a normal stretch of hallway, just like all the rest. RIP Wall Carpet. (It's gonna be really funny if wall carpets become a popular interior design trend soon) (Probably not, both to wall carpets becoming popular again real soon, or it being really funny)

PRODUCTION AUTOGRAPH

Ending this on a high note. Many of the touring shows that come through tag somewhere in the backstage. Some are on the ground, some are in tech booths. They can just be their logo, or they can get elaborate, adding dates, a list of stagehands who were on those tours, etc.

This tagged alcove is one of my favorites, just a fun mix of shows. And looks like there's already a new black wall available for when they fill up every inch of the current section!

Getting to the bottom of DIG!

DIG! has been DUG!

After 5 terrific summers, DIG! Kids, Dirt & Discovery has come to an end. Last week, staff and Colonial Williamsburg volunteers were allowed to excavate the Archibald Blair Storehouse site, and finally uncover the cellar floor. I joined in on the last day to help out and commemorate my times over the years with this particular program and site.

DIG! Excavation and Prentis Store - October 2019

The mood of the day was ambivalent. Happy to dig, but sad that it was the last time at the site.

Ambivalent Brownies, baked by a DIG!
volunteer. Whatever mood you chose, they
were still delicious.

The goal was to unearth the complete rectangle of the chosen site... unfortunately, that did not happen. One side of the site had 2" of dirt to the bottom. The other side was found to have close to 7".  One corner was filled with clay that did not want to budge. Towards the later part of the day, shovels became more prevalent in hopes of dislodging dirt faster. Great progress and strides were made, but at the end of the day, there was still plenty of dirt.

The final results of 5 summers of DIG!

Digging on the cellar floor of the Archibald Blair Storehouse

There were still treasures to be found: Toy marbles, pieces of decorative plates, rusty nails, clay pipe pieces, bricks, buttons, glass, animal bones, oyster shells, and lots and lots of dirt.

A couple of the unique items found on the last day that I photographed:

A circular metal thing? For a buckle maybe?

Tiny, tiny, tiny piece of glass with an R
etched into it

Someone found the bottom half of a 20th century Coca-Cola glass bottle. When I was looking at it, I noticed it had been bottled at the Newport News, Virginia bottling plant!

Bottom of the Coca-Cola glass bottle, which reads
"Newport News"

Coca-Cola Newport News Bottling building
facade I shot a couple years back. The plant 
is no longer operational.

It was sad to see it covered up by the tarp one last time. There is still 1-2 days worth of digging left to complete what has been dug. There are other features of the cellar outside of the chosen rectangle of the excavation, but utility lines are in the way. As there are no current plans to move these lines, the excavation can go no further.

Shot of the latest version of the Visitor
Center's DIG! display case.

When I was talking with guests about the site, a common question was what's going to happen next? Are you going to rebuild the storehouse? Unfortunately, no. Digging in the dirt is one thing. Constructing a building is another. The cellar will be reburied.

With my current amount of research, I do not know why the storehouse wasn't rebuilt during the Restoration with Rockefeller. Back when I worked for Williamsburg full-time, I located a proposal from 1977 to rebuild it and use it as a retail location, but that did not come to fruition.

Wheelbarrow getting ready to take supplies back...
 one last time.

Will DIG! come back at a new site next summer? I sure hope so. It's a wonderful program that shows a different yet necessary side of the Williamsburg story. It's fun, hands-on, and educational. You get to touch the history! It's a lovely time, with a lovely group of people.

CW Archaeologist Meredith and I
after a last day of digging at DIG!

Sometimes, community can be found in a dirt pit, looking for the past's trash. Thank you to all the archaeologists and volunteers I befriended over the years at this site. Till the next one!


Sources:
Colonial Williamsburg Archaeology Facebook Post - Oct 3, 2019
"Renovation and Fixturing of the John Greenhow Store and Taliaferro-Cole Shop" [Segment of document that I copied pages out of from the CWF Rockefeller Library back in 2015. Apologies for the partial source]

See other stories on DIG! Kids, Dirt & Discovery:
DIG! during the Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017
DIG! Kids, Dirt & Discovery 2016
35/15 Part 5 - Ludwell-Paradise

Architectural Archaeology: Kennedy Center

Digging up the past
May 19, 2016 - Kennedy Center REACH site

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

When you think of archaeology, you usually think of digging and finding centuries-old items. When I look at a building, I like to do what I call architectural archaeology. My eyes dig into the walls and decor, searching for evidence of what the building used to look like, how it has evolved, what has been added, and what has been forgotten about until a future renovation. I'm going to present to you some architectural artifacts I've discovered from my current excavation, the Kennedy Center.



BATHROOM TILE

Here is a picture of a bathroom covered in floor-to-ceiling tile. Would you use these tiles in your bathroom today? Probably not.

Up close, this pattern is not too bad to look at. It's a very Edward Durell Stone style, a circle within a square. They are simple and bold shapes, repeating ceaselessly. I am betting that this bathroom has not changed much since 1971.

This is in a former VIP area, now used for admin space. I originally theorized this was a remnant of a highly-stylized VIP room lost to time. However, a few weeks later I stumbled upon another use of this tile in an event storage area next to the Atrium. Looking at blueprints, the space these other tiles live in was originally part of a large bathroom complex. So my current theory is that this was what all Kennedy Center bathrooms looked like in 1971.

All public bathroom spaces have been renovated since then, but it's nice to get a snapshot of what they probably used to look like. For some reason, not many people take pictures of bathrooms throughout the years.

FANCY, UNNECESSARY STAIRS

In a side hallway, we have one flight of stairs, connecting two levels of admin space. Do they need to be connected here in the space's current configuration? Not really. It's odd in this tall building to have a staircase comprise of only one flight.

Despite its rudimentary tread and riser, the stairs have an unexpected flourish in a golden railing with end curls. Usually, this kind of railing is reserved for front-of-house usage, not for office space.

It has an odd turnaround railing support. It does not look right how it slightly bends.

The top railing is shorter than usual.

This area is by the President's Office, which can explain the more dramatic flair. The President's Office (originally known as the Director's Office) has always been here. There are other public-facing flourishes in the surrounding office area, including light fixtures matching the ones in the theater lobbies. This was and is a show space of sorts for those visiting the President's Office. If you're the President of the Kennedy Center, you don't want your guests to be wowed by the Halls and Foyers, then arrive at your office and say, "Oh, that's it?" Get that same gold treatment. You deserve it.

What still isn't explained is why these stairs were needed in the first place. Original blueprints list the space up the stairs as unfinished space. These stairs also appear there as only rising one flight. More research will need to be done to find why this was needed.



STAGE DOOR LIGHTS

Once you are buzzed into the Opera House Stage Door, most people walk through the inner antechamber onto another destination. The room isn't anything special to look at, so most people don't look up to see some interesting overhead light fixtures.

These hanging sphere lights add some unexpected charm. They're definitely a bright spot in this utilitarian space. The other stage doors have been renovated/moved locations, so they have more modern lighting fixtures. I hope these guys stick around for a few more decades, I really like them.

Also, note that ceiling. Older/original sections of the building use these small, square ceiling tiles. (The ceiling can be replaced, please just keep those lights.)



MISSING CHANDELIERS & WALL SCONCES

When architectural elements are removed at the Kennedy Center, things are usually made to appear like nothing had ever been there. For example, phone booths used to be scattered all around the Center. Now, it's hard to find where they were located. There are, however, some architectural elements that were removed, but evidence remains of their existence.

When Millennium Stage was added to the Kennedy Center, the Grand Foyer was altered in many ways. One was the removal of a chandelier from either side of the hall. Their former locations can easily be spotted from the Millennium Stage house.

A complete chandelier, with the spot of the missing
chandelier behind. Millennium Stage North peeks in.

Another alteration was the removal of four sets of wall sconces. Where they once hung is now in the backstage wings of the Millennium Stages.

Backstage at Millennium Stage, a hole where a wall sconce once hung in
the Grand Foyer.

Remaining wall sconces in the Grand Foyer

Why are these still visible? Probably because, should the Millennium Stage series ever end and the stages be removed, the wall sconces and chandeliers can return to their former homes with ease.



BONUS: A MAP


This is a Kennedy Center map:

It is taped to a wall in a well-traversed backstage path. It's of the Grand Foyer Level of the building, but it hangs a floor below on the A Level. No date is included, but a few features on it can tell you roughly how old the map is. It lists the "American Film Institute" where the Family Theater is now. The name change happened in late 2005. The Washington National Opera is listed on here as the "Washington Opera," a name they used until February 2004. With the noninclusion of Millennium Stage in the Grand Foyer, I can assume this map was created before 1997. Folks, there has been a map taped to the wrong level of the building for probably 20+ years.

Other things to note:
- AFI had its own box office
- Washington Opera's offices were once in the building. They no longer are. (But I'm sure they're fine with that, their administrative offices now have windows)
- Lost & Found is marked where the Concert Hall Stage Door is now
- There's a gift shop and First Aid in the Hall of Nations?



SOURCES
Kennedy Center Blueprints (Thanks always to Vaughan Bowen!)
Garth Ross Interview
Silver Theater Opens to the Public
Family Theater Virtual Tour
Washington Opera Goes 'National' In Name and Vision