The outside of the Ormsby House is so close to being done, that there’s hardly anything to show you. But, every month there are more little details springing up. So here’s what happened in August.

The early morning sun glinted off the new windows at the beginning of the month, but also off the scaffolding that was still erected around the portecochere.

At the back of the property, the Ormsby Club is still open and operating. When it first opened, as the Winchester Club, these exterior walls were bright white. But now they’ve been redone in beige to match the rest of the casino. Maybe the rest of the garage will be done soon?

Way up at the tippy top, a few of the parking garage’s windows are being closed off. Maybe that’s so people don’t get the urge to spit onto the roof of the bridge?

Speaking of the sky bridge, it finally lost the last of its scaffolding this month. Curry Street showed no sign of reopening, though. The barricades are still in place, and there’s a job trailer blocking the road. The bridge, though, is ready to go.

The bridge even got pretty white boots on its legs. Presumably this is a primer coat, getting ready for more paint.

And the painting of the portecochere continued, from the top down as always. Still a lot of grey and white left, but they’re making progress.

Around the back of the casino, this wall is still behind the times. Grey walls and scaffolding, things that disappeared from the rest of the building months ago, are still on display here. But, there is progress happening here too.

Now here is the big hole that’s still in the back wall of the casino. It’s been here so long that I’m starting to think they’re leaving it deliberately. Maybe these are going to be big access doors, or they’re leaving it so construction equipment can get in and out. But this is just about the only place where you can still see the ugly underbelly of the new structure, the dirty brick and steel studs.

Then, in the middle of the month, it happened. Here in the front of the casino, in a tiny little test patch next to the big bay doors, appeared a most curious sight. Yes, as I guessed, they are putting rockwork around the lower three feet of the building. And if you look close, you’ll see that this is actually the FakeRock™ that used to coat the casino, which they removed over three years ago when they first started exterior work. It’s one last little link to the past.

By the end of the month, the FakeRock™ wrapped around most of the building. Here it is snaking its way around the Big Room.

And no, that’s not my car.

And here is where the original test patch was, right along Carson Street. Except for a few panes of glass, it looks like this part of the building is done. Totally. Unless they still have more tricks up their sleeves.

At the end of the month the portecochere had gotten a full paint job, and the scaffolding was broken down and put away. That was almost the last bit of scaffolding left, aside from the never-finished back wall. It’s September now, and the countdown to first snow and cold temperatures has begun. But the way they’ve been moving lately, I think they’ll be all done with the outside well before the first flakes start to fall. And then the real work moves indoors. Actually, I think there’s already a lot going on in there. I’ve seen huge shipments of steel studs show up at the site then disappear, along with other men and equipment. So, there are probably already some walls going up inside that hotel tower.

What do you think? Will they open in 2006? I think we need to make it through the month of September first. See you then!