Lantz’s Feature on TV3 in Winchester!
Just in case you missed it, Lantz was featured in an exclusive tour of the Taylor Hotel Renovation on TV3 in Winchester.
Here’s the article:
It’s been a little more than a month since crews started working on the old Taylor Hotel in Winchester.
“Coming in here I think we expected to see it in very bad condition and that’s what we found,” said Lantz Construction Company Senior Project Manager Kevin Gabel. “We’ve been expecting the worse so we really haven’t been too surprised.”
Kevin Gabel works for Lantz Construction Company. It’s based out of Broadway, Virginia. That’s the company that was hired to complete Phase I of the Taylor Hotel renovation project, which involves demolition and stabilization.
“What we’ve already done is we’ve installed tension rods through the hotel, which stabilizes the building that ties the walls into the floor system and makes it stronger,” said Gabel.
You can still make out where the stage of the theater and a balcony where seating used to be. In about two months, you’ll be able to see straight down through the floor where an open live entertainment venue will be.
“What we’ll do next is support this wall that becomes the back wall to the outdoor pavilion, and once that’s stabilized we’ll tear the rest of this out,” said Gabel.
Here you can see workers taking down this wall. Between 7,000-10,000 of these bricks will be reused to build another wall.
“You’ll see this behind me getting bricked up with the reused brick,” said Lantz Construction Company Site Superintendent Mike Knight.
They’re also working on digging out a basement that got filled in over the years.
“It’s an exciting project,” said Lantz Construction Company Executive VP & Director of Pre-Construction Services Chris Weaver. “Proud to be working for the City of Winchester. This is obviously a very important project for the City of Winchester and especially downtown Winchester, and it has a number of challenges given the state that this building is in, but it’s exciting.”
Phase I is expected to take a few more months.
“This entire building has been in significant disrepair for many years and a number of these walls as you can see this temporary bracing of these walls to try to keep them where they are has not been a permanent, and we’re in here to make it a permanent fix for many many more years,” said Weaver.
After that, the next phase will begin which is the actual renovation of the hotel.
During the holidays, the walkway that runs from the Braddock Street Parking Garage on Indian Alley to the Old Town Mall will be reopened. Lantz Construction had to close that for some work to be completed.
To watch the news clip visit TV3’s website, here.