First glimpse of the onyx risers

I was wrong that there would be nothing exciting to photograph at the red brick building this week: today the foreman on the carpentry team began installing the onyx risers on the front (common entry) staircase.

Knock on wood, it seems to be going surprisingly smoothly for something that everyone was incredibly worried about.  Believe it or not, they've even been using a diamond blade on a table saw to trim the ultra-fragile onyx pieces to size...so far without incident!  Because the stone is so delicate, they devised a plan to back each riser with a piece of plexi-glass, which will allow the light from the LED devices to penetrate (hopefully without the stringers casting shadows), while providing stability for the sheets of onyx.  I really, really hope it all comes together without incident!