In preparation for the Sundance Film Festival, the Chautauqua Association recently remodeled its 1,300-seat auditorium for
year-round use. The work, however, had to be done quickly to make the venue available for summer events and concerts.
The race against time reflects the auditorium's original construction when it was constructed in only six weeks.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the Chautauqua educational and cultural movement had spread all over the country.
In the late nineteenth century, hard-rock miners uncovered vast quantities of silver and gold by hand. Then, drills that ran on steam-powered compressed air revolutionized the industry. The old-time miners, however, were proud of their skills and competed in hand-drilling contests long after their outdated tools were no longer used underground.
For the contests, miners took turns either "single jacking" (one man) or double jacking (2 men) on large granite boulders. Several of these events took place at Chautauqua, and one of the drilling rocks (with a brass plaque and visible drill holes) is to the left of the park's entrance road near its intersection with the road that exits the Chautauqua Green.
jon.hatch@compass.com
