Six years of evaluating and planning have finally turned to action this week as the 500 Capp Street Foundation embarked on the first construction phase at 500 Capp Street, and the dramatic difference to the exterior is already visible! This week we saw some of the toughest work completed with the removal of the garage addition and the stripping of the upstairs bathroom. This delicate process was completed thanks to Jakela Environmental Services. Their team was incredibly sensitive to the material, and helped us carefully remove all historical elements and prepare them for restoration and temporary storage.
As we strip away the layers of the house on both the interior and exterior, we are reminded of David Ireland’s own work on 500 Capp Street, and the possibilities that come when sourcing material from your surroundings. Even by simply removing the bathroom fixtures for restoration, we suddenly found our work space filled with Duchampian “readymades”. The majority of these pieces will be restored and reinstalled into the newly renovated spaces. Any additional materials will be available to our artist-in-residency program, continuing Ireland’s legacy of mining materials from the house.
Be sure to follow us not only here on our website, but also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as we will be sharing even more photos of the construction and conservation effort, as well as rare photos from the archive!