Eagle Scout Project

Before 

For my Eagle Scout project I demolished an old and decrepit set of masonry emergency exit stairs at my local community playhouse and rebuilt them with a more robust and larger design with two stairs and a larger platform.  

After

The new set of steps included two new sidewalks, two stairs, with one providing the ability to bring larger items through the door, and a much more aesthetically pleasing design.

The project presented many challenges. It’s not easy for a 17 year old to obtain building permits for a commercial buildings emergency exit - everything needed to be perfect. There were many parts to this project that had to be managed and they all had to come together within a three week build window between performances in the theatre. After several wrong turns, a partial tear down and redesign, and a few memorable “learning experiences”, the stairs were successfully completed on time and within budget. Over the course of the project many volunteers participated, achieving a troop 1776 record of 717 hours of work.

During the project I faced a major obstacle with removing the old step’s foundation. A jack hammer wasn’t even able to to chip away at the foundation’s reinforced concrete.

I eventually solved this issue by reviewing the blue prints and making some changes on the fly. We moved our footings out an additional foot from the building and bypassed the foundation completely.