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Show Scene 76 ,y FEATURES PAUl HARVEY -- WEEKS TV GUIDE -- -- THURSDAY, 1 JULY I . ' 8, 1976 '. 1 L fV V fx ) D c A C". ' LJ V 'jf I S? 4 f t' '. t Sl ' CuJ? I 1 )fll VOLUNTEER ANDY FREDRICKSON of Tremonton looks over artifacts while Carlos Pinto, student volunteers office, discusses plans with Mattie Callister, Tremonton, Frontier Street coordinator. carpenter from Wellsville. constructs frames to be used for Frontier Street. KAY MITTON, USU 4 iiiiiHiiHMnA The Old West may not have looked exactly like some of us picture it, Colin Johnson, Utah State University Theatre Department assistant professor, has dis- covered. Johnson has been researching and designing Frontier Street as part of the Festival of the American West 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. studio, watch handmade candy being made, sample ice cream in the ice cream parlor, plus much more. "ONE THING I hope to do Frontier Street is break down some stereotypes we have as to what things looked like back around We all picture the Old West on Frontier Street line will the south front of the Spectrum with shops typical of ' tt . 1 1880-190- jr i as 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. it appeared in the first movie and has been portrayed ever since. I am using picture of actual buildings as 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. and museum "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 reconstruction 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 find 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 easily." Johnson has researched Old West towns through book and by exploring ghost towns 1 ROSEMARY PARKINSON of Smithfield and Jeff Simmons, USU special collections librarian, Trenton, look over clothing for the ladles' emporium. Mrs. Parkinson Is assisting with the planning oi mat snop. t "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 e a big job, and we won't have time to make mistakes," Johnson con- - r USU Theatre Arts Department, COLIN JOHNSON, finishes sketching Frontier Street. Johnson has done much research on Old West streets In preparation for the Festival of the American West. y ; ,t '' f-- |