Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Behind the Scenes with R.J.

Take A Hard-Hat Tour of The Kimmel Center Construction Site

"Hello, I'm R.J. I am in eighth grade and attend Abington Junior High. I interviewed a construction worker and got a hard hat tour at The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. I wanted to do this because I thought it would be pretty cool to get an inside view of The Kimmel Center before anyone else could. It was a lot of fun to go inside such a neat building while they were still building it.

My favorite part of the hard hat tour was when we went into Verizon Hall and learned about all the cool things you would be able to do to the lights and stage. It was also really scary at the balcony when I looked down. I thought I was going to fall.

My favorite part of the whole building was probably the glass dome at the top. It was really cool how Frank Baxter, my tour guide and the construction company’s safety manager, described the way they put it together. He said the glass doesn’t break and shatter, it breaks and stays in place like a car windshield.

Seeing how they built The Kimmel Center was really interesting and fun. Now that I've seen it during construction, I want to see it when it's all done."

L.F. Driscoll provides construction management for The Kimmel Center building project.

>Also see: Building the Center