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Show V s ! f Scene 76 CLASSIFIEDS FEATURES PAUL HARVEY WEEKS TV GUIDE -- -- -- i : t VOLUNTEER ANDY FREDRICKSON of Tremonton looiu over artificti while Carlos Pinto, student volunteers office, discusses plans with Mattie Callister, Tremonton, Frontier Street coordinator. Mw USU carpenter KAY MITTON, from Wellsville, constructs frames to be used for Frontier Street i i htii'bas' A i i '' The Old West may not have looked exactly like some of us picture it, Colin Johnson, Utah State University Theatre Department assistant professor, has discovered. Johnson ,has been researching and designing Frontier Street as part of the Festival of the American West Frontier Street will line the south front of the Spectrum with shops typical of as it appeared in the first movie and has been portrayed ever since. I am using picture of actual Jmildings as Visitors will the be able to buy soft drinks at the saloon, have a photograph taken in pioneer costume in the photography 1880-1900- s. models; adapting and stvliz-in- g them for our purposes, Johnson explains. For example, one saloon I really liked was found on the West Coast and has three arches for an entrance instead of swinging doors we , all picture, he continues. studio, watch handmade candy being made, sample ice cream in the ice cream parlor, plus much more. ' ONE THING I hope to do on Frontier Street is break down some stereotypes we have as to what things looked like back around We all picture the Old West 1880-190- Johnson has researched. Old West towns through book and by exploring ghost towns 0. and museum replicas of towns. Basically, I have used the library, especially the Special Collections section. I did travel to Blackfoot, Idaho, a few weeks ago to see a frontier town an elderly gentleman there, Adolph Tressl, has reconstructed, Johson says. THE MAN DID this as a hobby. Some years ago, he purchased an old Montana ghost town as the core and moved it to his backyard in Blackfoot. Seeing the town was a great way to check details like window molding and signs. There is a lot of charm in the lettering on those old buildings," he continues. Johnson has found some problems with the recon- struction of Frontier. Street. Many of the materials he needs to construct an authentic street cannot be bought today. Many facades were built with ship lap, the kind of wood we see in many old barns. You can't And that readily today, and, even if you could, the cost would be prohibitive. I am having, to adapt many modern materials and play with them to get what I want, Johson says. I have also had to modify some buildings to allow for practical problems like getting groups of people in and out COLIN JOHNSON, USU Theatre Arts Department, finishes sketching Frontier Street. Johnson has done much research on Old West streets in preparation for the Festival of the American West easily." I FIND WORKING on Frontier Street to be very challenging and stimulating. I've discovered many interesting things about the Old West by looking at pictures. I ran across one that showed a building with a flat roof and buckets about 20 water-fille- d on top. I discovered these were used to fight fires. I hope to use ideas like this for Frontier Street," he says. Actual construction on the site will not begin until June 1 although the side and back walls have already been assembled by the university's physical plant. "Everything has to be planned to the last detail. Building Frontier Street is going to be a big Job, and we won't have time to make . . ROSEMARY PARKINSON of SmithNeld and Jeff Simmons, USU special collections librarian, Trenton, look over clothing for the ladies' emporium. Mrs. Parkinson la assisting with the planning of that shop. -- i A mistakes," Johnson con- - S |