The new steam boiler to heat the theater is now installed in the Calumet Theatre, completing Phase I of the steam heat restoration project. (Photo courtesy of Dan Jamison)

CALUMET ­– The project to restore steam heat to the Calumet Theatre and the Village Hall is progressing, with Phase One now completed and the next phase well underway, says Calumet Theatre Company President Dan Jamison. The project consists of three phases.

Phase One, now complete, included removing the old, failed boiler, installing the new unit, and having that inspected and licensed.

“That phase involved removal of the old boiler, and all of the old manifolds,” Jamison said. “Marty (Trevathan) made new, threaded, manifolds, because the old ones were welded, which is no good. The threaded ones move, expand and contract without twisting the boiler.”

Phase Two is now in progress, which Jamison said includes repairing, fitting, packing, and testing steam pipes throughout the building. The boiler has already been fired to test things, he said.

“Phase Two is when he moves out of the furnace room and into the theater,” Jamison said. “for example, a number of pipes on the radiators on the back wall (of the stage) have been damaged over the years by people running scenery, stacking stuff against them, and that kind of stuff.”

Phase Two has no current estimated time of completion. Jamison said the theater and Trevathan do not have a contract for Phase Two, because Jamison wants him to have time to “tend to the details.”

For example, Trevathan discovered when he fired the boiler, said Jamison, the thermostat was not shutting off until the temperature reached into the 80s, even when it was set at 52.

“We put a cheap replacement on it,” Jamison said, “but Marty is going to get one that connects wirelessly so that we can monitor temperatures remotely.”

On Feb. 19, Trevathan addressed additional details when he turned on the boiler to fine tune it. Jamison said it was the first time in seven years the lobby was warm.

In the lobby of the Village Hall, Jamison said, employees noticed almost immediately that the radiators were not cold.

While working on radiators in the lobby, Trevathan discovered two valves in the village offices had been shut off.

After opening them, the village manager reported that her office is now heated.

While there is no set completion date for Phase Two, Phase Three will focus on restoration of the steam radiator system in the ballroom, said Jamison.