Bringing back a century-old public school
Anchorage, Kentucky
Whitehouse Painting – “We love working on projects that are not easy.”
The Anchorage Public School opened for students over 100 years ago as the Anchorage Graded and Common School. The school’s current location and building were established in 1915.
Today, the school is part of the Anchorage Independent School District and provides education from Kindergarten through 8th grade. The district is renowned for its stellar academic performance, consistently ranking as a top public school in Kentucky.
A century of excellence is a hard act to follow, but Whitehouse Painting was more than up for the challenge.
“We love working on projects that are not easy,” said Amy Bergeron, owner of Whitehouse. “There was a lot of scheduling, logistics, and true craftsmanship that went into making this project a success.”
When Whitehouse started the job, the theater was dark, its gold paint dulled.
Using extensive scaffolding, Whitehouse painted metallic gold on the ceiling crown molding and hanging wagon wheel lights. They used a light blue to accent the ceiling panels.
Most of the work was done with a brush, but Whitehouse used a sprayer for the ceiling and gold grown molding. Matching metallic gold on the stage floor helped bring it all together.
Bergeron credits flexibility for the success, as it required multiple trades to balance timelines and work together. For plaster repair, they used Julius Schnurr & Sons; the scaffolding was set up by RW Scaffolding & Sons; the color design was courtesy of HB Brown Designs.
“Frank Blackwell, our project manager, says to have patience, consistency, and to always value your own work,” Bergeron said.
When you look at the end result, it’s clear that it was restored with loving care.
“The best part of working on this project was to see the final outcome,” Bergeron said. “It was exciting to see this transformation and bring the theater back to its glory with a vibrant new finish.”
Products Used:
- Sherwin Williams paint
- GPW Golden Paintworks Metallic Paint
- Rosco Tough Prime Stage Paint
- Minwax Stain and Polyurethane
