October 8, 2022
I have decided to create a model of the Johnson Town Hall and Opera House located in Johnson, Vermont. I remember going to the town hall to watch movies and to see the town meetings when I was a teenager. This is a picture of the building I plan to recreate.
The Johnson Town Hall has a long history. It was originally built as a church in 1832 by the Baptist but was always considered a congregational church. The town purchased the building in 1851 after the church built a new building. My measurements for the building, (which are approximate) are as follows. The main building is 36ft by 60feet. the stage which was added on I build as being 34feet by 21feet. The front entrance I build as 8feet by 20feet. I have the steeple built as 35 feet above the front addition roof. The main structure I build as 39 feet tall.
After cutting the windows which are 6 over 6 double pain windows, into the sides I assembled them to create the outside of the building.
After creating the outside of the building I decided to add the floor which I invision being all wood and sloping down towards the stage from the entrance.
You can see from this picture the floor I installed in the main building. I had originally planned to use the braces as seen to support the balcony however decided later not to use them. The entrance to the building is at the top of the picture. The stage will be added on later which will connect to the wall at the bottom of the picture.
9 October 2022
At this point I decided I would create the balconies and the section at the entrance that separates that from the main hall. As you can see in the following picture I have them started.
I remember going to the movies when I was a a young child so I decided there must have been a projection booth. I placed the projection booth over the entrance to the main seating area. I don’t really recall if there were restrooms but there must have been. I will place one on the left side and one on the right probably under the stairway to the balcony.
21 October 2022
I have painted the outside walls with a white primer. The building appears to still be the same color so that is what I will use. Along with the white primer for the walls I painted the flooring with acrylic burnt sienna. I also may use something to give the color of the floors a shine. Probably I will use Modpodge. Although its not actually paint it does create a glossy finish. I have used it on other projects and it appears to hold up fine.
I need to finish the interior before finishing the outside. Yet to do are adding the rows of pews and make some decisions about lighting. I was able to get a picture of the interior of the building thanks to my sister Barbara. Here they are.
Also she sent me a picture of the curtain that used to hang over the stage.
11/14/2022
Sorry I have been neglecting this build. I have worked on the interior, installing seats on the main floor and in the balcony. I had purchased some fancy seats to install and even went so far as to do that, only to remove them because they did not fit the era. Town’s back in the 1800’s did not have lots of money and seldom upgraded seating in town halls. The church seats of course were not meant for comfort but for keeping you awake and paying attention. I decided to find new seats to install and did find some, ordered them and now can install them instead. As I noted above before doing much detail inside, I have to make some decisions about lighting. According to the pictures I have seen it looks like the building had lights hanging off the balcony. It took me some time, but I found some that are prewired and should work just fine. After installing them I found they were just too large for the scale of the building. I went To Even’s Design and found light there that worked.
This is a picture of the building with lights installed inside.
Jan 4, 2023
Time to finish up the building. Now that I have the lights installed and some people along with the seats all thats need is to finish up the roof.
This is the roof finished. I have made the roof removeable so the interior can be viewed.
Thss sort of wraps up the Town Hall building., of course I thought that once before until I realized I had the steeple in the wrong place, OOPS
It pays to check it twice otherwise the building just is not right.