The Curator’s Corner
The Balcony Seat Replacement Project Commences
Welcome to The Curator’s Corner. I am David Voelkel, Director of Historic Preservation and Chief Curator for The Byrd Theatre Foundation and writing to share with you some information on one of our current projects – the balcony seat replacement project that is now underway!
On January 2, 2025, The Byrd Theatre Foundation, working with general contractor Daniel & Company, commenced replacing the old theater seats on the balcony level. Thanks to the generosity of a local family, gap funding was secured in 2024 to commence the project for which we are extremely grateful.
On Day One, a team of electricians from Harris Electric began the work by disconnecting the lights in the end aisle standards and adding temporary electrical service for the construction equipment needed. Then the Junk Shuttle crew carefully removed and packed the 1928 original cast iron end aisle standards, which have been shipped by Delta Graphics to Irwin Seating Company for rehabilitation as they are to be reinstalled with the new seats to maintain the original look and feel of the Theatre.
The crew then removed all the existing seat backs and seat bottoms for recycling, where possible. Working ahead of them, where possible, I harvested to preserve many yards of the dry-rotted, original wool mohair floral seat back fabric for possible use in possible historic preservation and educational projects, as well as, to share with various textile mills who are working with me on a viable modern, fire-rated replacement fabric for future consideration.
What is mohair velvet?
Mohair velvet is one of the top-performing fabrics of all velvets. Since mohair is exceptionally resilient, velvets made with this fiber tend to resist crushing, and generally hold their appearance over time.
On Day Two and Three, the crew was able to remove all of the cast iron middle supports of the existing seats to recycle and the original maple arm rests which I hope to reuse in the restoration. Once the old seats had been completely removed, we did a final clean-up to prepare for the next steps: patching the existing concrete and sanding for the epoxy finish,
