Arthur's Restaurant on Ten Mile Lake - Page 10

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These photos were submitted by Tom Cox in the winter of 2014-2015

Construction Update as of March 15

Here is a selection of the latest photos of the Arthur's Restaurant project on Ten Mile. Since my previous update at the end of January, the Arthur's themes have shifted mainly Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical Wiring. Pictures related to these aren't as visually dramatic as were photos of raising the walls and roof, but they are significant markers of progress over the winter. This is a collection of photos taken by me, Jim Graves, Jason Snodgrass, Shari Peterson and Brett Palmer over the six-week period when I was at the lake only the third week of February.

The building as it looked at about 11:00 AM on Thursday, January 29:

That same day, Jim Graves was there consulting with our draftsman, Brett Palmer; our Electrical Contractor, Kirk Lowe and his colleague; and our GC, Carl Peterson on various construction issues:

Justin Krueger, Brett and Carl. Justin, (left) is working on the design of our Audio Visual System.

Earlier in the month the Pizza Oven had been "rolled" from its resting place just inside the front door to the southwest corner of the front kitchen. Here, on Jan. 29th, Carl and his colleague are, at last, uncrating it:

Here Brett, with Carl and Shari Peterson, show off the newly unwrapped oven in all its glory.

That same day a load of real (not cultured) stone arrived for application to the fireplace faces. Unlike cultured stone, this stone has been factory-split from real field stones so as to provide each piece with a smooth front and back. One side is the "business" side, the other, more attractive, side, is the "show" side. In aggregate, when applied to the fireplaces, this stone will be a little heavier than cultured stone, but nowhere near as heavy as whole rock. That looks to me like Jerry Peterson in the background.

Here, on the 29th, stood the structure of the interior fireplace ready to begin having its facing rock applied:

On the 30th, Jason Snodgrass and Brad Edwards were applying the first stones on the interior fireplace:

By February 1st the stone work was well under way.

Here, back on Jan. 29, Carl and his co-worker are measuring the stone slab for the fireplace mantel:

Here, on Wednesday, February 4, about 4:15 PM, Jason waits for help to install the stone mantel that rests on a scaffold shelf just in front of him. How they got that piece of stone up onto that shelf is a story yet to be told.

An hour later, Brad Edwards was "mudding" the two handsome stone corbels that support the mantel.

Jim was there again on Thursday, Feb. 5, and took this photo of the building looking up from just the other side of the Paul Bunyan Trail.

Meanwhile, at about 10:45 the morning of the 4th, a truck delivered the massive - 1,200Lb. - range hood that will go over the cooking range in the kitchen.

On those two days, the 4th and 5th, Jim and his team from Graves Hospitality were onsite to inspect progress and discuss multiple kitchen operations issues.
L. to R.: Jim Graves, CEO of Graves Hospitality; Matt Mering, VP of Food and Beverage Development, Graves Hospitality; Carl Peterson, General Contractor; John Occhiato, Executive Chef, Graves Hospitality; and Ben Graves, President, Graves Hospitality.

By mid-afternoon on Tuesday, February 17, one focus had shifted to the fireplace in the main dining room, where in mid-afternoon Brad and Shari were hard at work applying split stone to the fireplace structure.

That afternoon, too, I was interested in the brackets that our plumbing contractor, Joe Bates of Legacy Plumbing, had installed to hold the wall-mounted toilets that will be installed in the women's room on the main level. Wall-mounted stools - installed in all the restrooms are a quality upgrade that will enhance restroom esthetics and make floors easier to keep clean.

There will be three stalls in the women's restroom.

It was fun to go upstairs and look over the interior of the restaurant from above. Here's a view of the twin bars area from the upper level on Feb. 17. The entrance to the "off-sale" area is at the upper right of the photo:

Here's how the building appeared about 3:00 PM on Feb. 17th. On that day, I counted eight trucks parked in front of the restaurant - an indication of how many artisans were at work all at the same time that day - Plumbers, Electricians, Heating Contractors, and Carl's crew. A rather pedestrian sidelight: Because of the increased activity (and folks - some 15 in all) [not exactly the Vikings Stadium, but still.....] on the site, that week we had to call for an auxiliary porta-john from Northland Septic.

The main fireplace calls for two fireplace "caps" part way up the face of the fireplace. Here Carl, Brad, Jason and a colleague manhandle one of the caps, a very heavy piece of stone, up from one level to the next on the scaffold.

Here, with split rock lying all around, carefully sorted and positioned for most efficient retrieval, Brad mixes mortar for the application process about to continue:

February 20 - One of the wintrier days of February. A view of the building from the northeast.

February 20 - a view of the main dining room from the north west. Note the gas furnace in place along the exterior back wall:

February 18: A view of the interior fireplace, standing back-to-back with the main dining room fireplace:

On Wednesday, February 18th, the Kitchen Range Hood rested on its side, still wrapped in plastic, on the front kitchen floor.

February 18: Carl and Brett in the south interior showing the bar area on the main level and the framing already in place in the upper level.

About 4:15 on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 18, Kirk Lowe was pulling cable (CAT, low voltage) through the studs in the north wall of the main dining room.

That afternoon Carl and Brad measured the dark accent rock that will go under the mantel and under the hearth on the main dining room fireplace.

Meanwhile, in the basement, Joe Bates and Glen Bebe were installing the main plumbing drain line under the bar.

On Thursday, the 19th, the Thelen Heating crew was on hand to hoist the range hood and install it over the range location in the front kitchen. The hood has been lifted by two hand-cranked hoists, hoists that would come in handy when it was time to lift the main fireplace mantel into place.

Meanwhile, Shari had begun applying stain to the pine paneling that will go in the main dining room ceiling.

A view of the building at about 5:00 PM on Thursday, February 19.

Inside, the Thelen crew was installing the hood that will hang over the dishwasher in the back kitchen.

Flues coming through the floor in the upper level. These will be extended through the roof, and ventilate the Pizza Oven and other cooking equipment in the kitchen.

By the 19th, Joe Sechser, of Joe's Heating and Air had installed this electric boiler in the northeast corner of the basement. This device economically (dual-fuel) provides in-floor heat to the main dining room and the off-sale space near the building entrance.

Earlier, Joe had installed this boiler in the utility room under the kitchen. This one provides in-floor heat in most of the basement (except the areas where the food coolers will be housed).

Also on the 19th, I snapped this shot of Carl and Jason installing the back door, the one that leads to the staircase leading to the three bedrooms on the upper level.

Here using an ordinary dolley, Carl and Brad have moved the mantel stone for the main fireplace into position:

With the caps in place (above their heads), the crew measures to make sure the mantel, here resting on a hoist borrowed from Thelen Heating, the installers of the Range Hood in the kitchen, will fit when they finally lift it into position.

Up goes the mantel! Using the Thelen hoist, they crank the mantel up into its permanent location above the firebox.

On Friday, the 20th, with the mantel now installed, Brad continues installation of split rock on the fireplace face. Note the dark accent rock just below the mantel and above the firebox.

By mid-February, Joe Freeman of Lakes Area Well Drilling had connected the well to the building and installed this 90-gallon pressure tank in the southeast corner of the basement.

Here Joe Bates adds some connections to the "mother-of-all-drain lines" in the basement. This line will carry waste from the bars and the restrooms to the the septic system.

By the 25th,the Thelen Company's work on the range hood in the front kitchen was pretty well completed.

On Wednesday, Feb. 25th, was time to install the hearthstone in the main fireplace. Here Carl and Jerry Peterson lever the stone into a workable position.

Meanwhile, the supply of stained ceiling paneling grows. Note the 5 inches or so of foam insulation in the ceiling of the main dining room.

On Saturday, February 28th, Brad Edwards placed the final stone on the face of the main dining room fireplace. Note the dark accent rock under the hearth.

Saturday, February 28th: Brad and Carl in front of the newly completed main fireplace.

5:15 PM Wednesday, March 4th: much of the ceiling paneling has been installed. Note how brightly the sun is shining into the main dining room the first week of March. How will it be kept from shining in diners' eyes? Stay tuned........​

More coming soon!