Forest Theater was created back in 1910 by Herbert Heron and other Carmel Bohemians. Ever since, it has been a major part of the arts community with locals doing the acting, directing, lighting, costuming, and staging. It’s gotten a little more upscale over time with both PacRep and Forest Theater Guild using the theater for major productions that include professional talent. But, it still retains the unique charm that is had over 100 years ago. The City of Carmel made a major renovation back in 2015 but, like everything in Carmel, if you don’t keep at it, this place can get overrun with “foresty” issues. It is, after all, a “Theater in a Forest!”Â
When COVID-19 came along we knew that it could be a while before performances could be held indoors. Even then we knew that outdoors is much safer than indoors, so, being passionate supporters of our arts community, we got to work cleaning up the Forest Theater so it would be ready when the Health Department would let outdoor performances take place. Along the way, we have developed a special relationship with this magical place and are committed to continuing our work there. When we started we had no detailed knowledge of the place, the politics or the extent of the effort it would take to bring it back to life. But, you should know that we don’t let little things like that get in our way!
Cleaning up the Seating Area
When we first checked it out the seating area was awash in mud and leaves and the seats were badly faded and unfinished. COVID procedures require things to be wiped down and that probably wouldn’t be possible with the condition of all those old wood seats. Working with the Public Works Department we figured that pressure washing the entire seating area would allow us to figure out the best way forward. Taking advantage of the fact that all public parks were closed, we got to work and, Â side-by-side with a contractor friend’s crew we did two multi-day pressure washings to get things prepped for the next step. Even then, we would find large amounts of mud caked to the bottom of the seats from time to time.
At the same time, we were walking the Theater grounds inside and out to check of the weeds, gophers, trees, railings, fireplaces and the general condition of the wood railings, trellises and stage. It was clear that we had taken on a real project but it didn’t stop us from proceeding. Because this place had captured us, spoke to us and convinced this that it would all be worth the effort to bring this place back to life!
Staining the Seating Area
Like many things in Carmel and most construction projects, things are usually more difficult and take longer than you’d like. This was no different. After pulling out hundreds of staples and doing some light sanding we got to work staining the seats with high quality semi-solid stain. It soaked in quickly so we bought some more stain and put on another coat. That did the trick.
Along the way we noticed that a pine tree at the back of the Theater was dripping sap on the raw wood and would be doing the same to paying customers at some point. We gave a call to Public Works and they did a fantastic job of trimming a few branches. We helped them clean up the mess and got back to work.
All together we used 20 gallons of stain Cabot semi-solid stain! We felt good about our efforts as it looked beautiful, can now be cleaned, is splinter free and will hold up for years. We also replaced missing bolts, tightened up hundreds of bolts, trimmed and belt sanded the edges of badly decayed benches. Voila!
Cleaning Up the Grounds
While all this was going on we had Carmel Cares Volunteers including Chris Burkert, Anne Gosch and Cynthia Wagner Weich starting on pulling weeds, removing dead ivy from fences and cleaning up the grounds. It’s not nothing as it is multiple acres and the weeds were 4 feet tall in places. Gophers were ruling the roost, even fighting us to pull weeds down their holes and, in one case, a tiny vole attached City Maintenance Manager Cleve Waters’ boot!
Rather than weed whacking, we took the time to actually pull out the weeds by their roots, fighting off gophers who would sometimes pull them down into the ground before we could get them out! It takes longer but will make our long-term maintenance project much easier. Little by little we made progress and we were ready for mulching.
It should not be underestimated the effort that was required on this phase of the project, which will continue forever.
The Roll-up Door Dilemma Solved
At that point we contacted the people who actually use the Forest Theater to put on productions. Stephen Moorer from PacRep and Yvonne Hildebrand-Bowen from the Forest Theater Guild were very nice and happy with the work we had done. But they and Cleve Waters, the City’s Maintenance Manager, told us that the large roll-up door in the snack bar had been a problem for years, could not be raised and was beyond repair and would be costly to replace. One of our contractor partners tried to fix it but it was hopeless.
So, after evaluating our options we worked with Carmel Gives to get a grant to buy a new door and we did all the prep work to remove existing covers and coordinated the installation with the City. It turned out beautifully! We even got the other smaller door adjusted so it went up and down easily.
So, the snack bar is ready to open. Let the shows begin!
What’s Next?
