It is never easy to go on stage and give a musical or theatrical performance.
The ability to perform becomes even more compromised if the performers are not able to fully focus because the room is too cold.
That was the situation facing the Collingwood Arts Center, where Piping Industry members installed a new boiler in 2015.
The former convent for the Ursuline Order of the Sacred Heart, a historical registered building, is now one of the true cultural gems of Toledo. The Collingwood Arts Center campus includes the Nelson Theater, the Underground Theater, the Gerber House and a variety of available studio spaces and galleries.
Less than two years later after installing the first boiler, the second boiler in the main building stopped working and Piping Industry members volunteered to give a performance of their own.
The Center needs two boilers to heat the buildings during the winter months to keep performers, audience members and those working in the studios warm.
Members Rick Salisbury and Ted Porter, with assistance from GEM, Inc., Industrial Power Systems and the Piping Industry Training Center, volunteered to re-pipe and install another boiler at the Collingwood Arts Center.
The project started in late September and was completed in late November 2017.
The volunteers performed expert work, safely and correctly installing and re-piping the boiler.
Thanks to the Piping Industry members, two of their signatory contractors and the Piping Industry Training Center, all will be warm and the shows will go on.