Down to the Fox’s foundations

Looking back at November 2025. Published October 21, 2026, from dated construction photographs, drawings and field reports.

There is a lot of theatre below the sidewalk.

On November 24 and 25, 2025, the ground was open along the Fox’s outside walls. The photographs take us below the brickwork to the foundations. Excavation and formwork fill a view most of us never get on a walk down Main Street.

Once the ground is closed up, much of that work disappears. That makes the pictures worth keeping, and worth a closer look.

Water has been a persistent problem at the Fox. The basement drawings call for drains around and beneath the floor, along with a sump pit and pump. Keeping water out helps look after the rooms below the stage and the theatre above them.

Those same drawings call for reusable stair parts and built-in shelving to be labeled, stored and put back after the work. Bringing the Fox back takes that sort of care: reach the problem, make the repair, and keep what can still serve the building.

The November photographs show one chapter of a longer job. The architect’s September 30, 2026 visit still found water in the basement. On October 21, the architect asked for prices for masonry repairs to help address the continuing problem. The remaining work and the money available still need to be lined up.

We will keep the dates on these pictures, and keep telling you what they show. A view of work underway is a useful part of the record. We also need to know what remains before we can call the job finished.

The next time you walk past the Fox, remember that some of the work bringing it back reaches well below your feet.

Take a closer look in the construction gallery, and read what remains.