Touchstone hall replaces one destroyed by brutal winter
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
The dining hall at Touchstone Center for Crafts in Wharton Township is being rebuilt after it was damaged during the heavy snows of 2010. The new hall will feature two indoor dining areas, a breezeway and a large deck area for outdoor dining.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
Director Adam Kenney stands under the new range hood where stoves, grills and ovens soon will be installed.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
A construction worker prepares boards to be used in rebuilding the dining hall at Touchstone Center for Crafts in Farmington. The original dining hall was damage during the heavy snows of 2010.
This is an artist’s rendering of the dining hall under construction at Touchstone.
Winter storms in 2010 collapsed the roof in the dining hall.
After being knocked down by terrible snowstorms two years ago, the dining hall at Touchstone’s Center for Crafts in Farmington is coming back better.
“It happened during Snowmageddon 2010. Terrible weather brought it down. Now we’re having unseasonably good weather while we’re rebuilding. It’s as if it’s nature’s way of apologizing,” said Adam Kenney, executive director.
The 2010 winter storms brought record snowfall to the region, causing damage to buildings throughout the area. Several buildings at Touchstone, Pennsylvania’s only residential crafts school, were damaged that winter and were repaired with help from staff and volunteers.
But the dining hall, located in the center of the campus, proved a total loss with the collapse of the roof.
As officials began the work to create a new building, students and staff ate in the great room at Blaney Lodge, the administrative building. Carson’s Catering from Scottdale brought in food daily for two years.
“They had to bring everything in every day. It was really challenging for them. It was really challenging for us,” said Kenney.
While Kenney said Touchstone is grateful, officials are happy that a new and improved building is under construction and expected to be completed this spring as Touchstone begins its 40th anniversary year.
“Before it was one long, continuous dining hall,” said Kenney. “The new dining hall will be broken up by a breezeway so we can have extracurricular activities. We can use one part for dining and the second part could have a ceramics instructor giving a presentation during a meal. It gives us more flexibility in what we can offer and it is more interesting architecturally.”
The new building, which was designed by Landmark Design Associates of Pittsburgh, will hold as many as 100 diners. It includes a large outdoor seating area near McIntire Run Creek, allowing people to absorb the mountain setting.
Fairchance Construction has been working on the building during the off season, starting in the fall. The company previously performed construction projects and updates on other buildings at Touchstone.
In a press release issued by Touchstone, Edward V. Balling, corporate president of Fairchance Construction, said, “Fairchance Construction is very proud to again be a part of the ongoing work at Touchstone Center for Crafts, which is such a vital and important part of Fayette County.”
Kenney expects there will be a dedication of the dining hall in the spring.
“Founded in 1972 as the Pioneer Crafts Council, Touchstone Center for Crafts is a three-season crafts school, offering both week-long and weekend classes in a diverse array of media, including blacksmithing, ceramics, jewelry and metals, fiber, glass, painting, mixed media, photography, printmaking, sculpture, basketry, and book arts. The majority of our classes are open to all levels of experience: beginners are particularly encouraged to sample the rich repertoire of Touchstone’s creative opportunities. We also offer a children’s program so that parents and their children can take advantage of Touchstone’s many classes and workshops,” the organization explained on its website.
Kenney, who has been executive director since July, said of the new year, “We’re bringing in approximately 30 percent new instructors in an attempt to broaden the organization’s audience. At the same time, we continue to provide the much respected and loved instructors that have been here for years. It’s a delicate balance we’re trying to strike.”
This year, Touchstone will also offer a new special program called Summer Evening Arts that features receptions for exhibitions or events.
Summer Evening Arts I will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 30, featuring receptions for two shows: “Reclamation: The Artwork of Robert Villamanga, Zakaria Tefft and Meghan McCaffery,” who use discarded material to create pieces of art, which will be on view in the Bea Campbell Gallery, and “Interpretations of Nature In Ink and Iron by Gudrun Garkisch and Bob Rupert” in the Iron Gate Gallery.
Summer Evening Arts II is slated for 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, with “Exhibition for Touchstone’s Artist of the year Joe Sendek,” who works with ceramics and glass, in the Bea Campbell Gallery, and “Remnants: The Artwork of Dan Kuhn and Chris McGinnis,” with Kuhn who works in ceramics and McGinnis, a painter and print maker, shown in the Iron Gate Gallery.
More information on Touchstone is available online at www.touchstonecrafts.org or by phone at 724-329-1370.