By Wally Kennedy
Globe Staff Writer

The wind is bone-chillingly cold eight floors above Joplin.

"Last Thursday, some windows were opened, and the wind was really whipping through up there on the top floor,'' said Eugene Harrington. "The plastic on the windows was just popping and snapping in the wind."

Harrington, an electrician with Bill's Electric Inc. of Joplin, is one of 100 or so workers on the Frisco Building project at Sixth and Main streets in Joplin. The downtown landmark is being converted from a former train depot and office building into 56 one- and two-bedroom apartments for the elderly.

The Frisco, influenced by the Chicago school of structural design, opened in 1913. It was built for $1 million by Isaac T. Cook Construction Co. of St. Louis. At one time, the station served 26 trains a day. The first ticket was purchased by Dr. E.C. Burkholder, a local dentist. The last train rolled out of the station in 1955.

The conversion of the building, which stood vacant for 15 years, will cost about $9.2 million. The project, started last April, should be complete by September. The developer is Carlson Gardner Inc. of Springfield.

Despite some weather-related setbacks, work is progressing rapidly on the 90-year-old structure, which opened to serve St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad passenger trains a year after the Titanic went down in the Atlantic.

"On the second through fourth floors, we are actually hanging Sheetrock," said Greg Keller, project manager for Larry Snyder & Co. of Joplin. "The walls have been framed up through the eighth floor with metal studs.

"We are painting a few units on the second floor. Some new windows are going in on that floor, too. The weather has got us a little bit, but we are on schedule.''

Before any work could begin, a demolition crew removed all of the interior walls, and the plumbing, electrical and heating systems.

"It was a complete demolition down to the shell,'' Keller said. "We're putting in all new plumbing and electrical.''

Each apartment will have its own electricity meter. Miles of conduit will connect a central panel to the apartments on each floor. Hundreds of holes have been drilled through the floors, which are 16 inches thick, to permit the passage of conduit and water pipes through them.

A transformer to serve the building was to have been placed on the lower parking area on the east side of the building. The transformer was too big to fit into the allotted space. It will now sit on the upper parking deck. Empire District Electric Co. already has installed the lines necessary to power the transformer.

The inside hallways, which are bare concrete and Sheetrock, resemble tunnels in a mine. The hallways are illuminated by lights strung in a row from a wire that hangs from the ceiling. Workers wearing hard hats pass each other in the halls.

The wood windows in the Frisco are 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. They are being replaced by functional aluminum units that are designed to look like the originals. They will be burgundy in color.

Keller said a team has been formed to handle the installation of the custom-made windows. More than 300 will be installed. Some windows on the east side of the building were removed to permit the construction of a new interior stairwell to replace the exterior fire escape that has been removed.

The original ornate cornice at the top of the building has been removed for safety reasons. The cornice, which was molded masonry, has had water damage over the years. The original design will be replicated in lightweight fiberglass. The new cornice will be installed when an appropriate color is chosen to match the original color.

"We have to match it exactly for historic purposes," Keller said. "There is a lot of historic preservation involved in this project. All of the marble flooring will be put back as it was."

A new elevator will reach from the basement, a labyrinth of red-brick rooms, to the top floor. The old elevators have been saved and are to be reassembled. It is possible they will be part of an exhibit on the main floor or lobby.

The lobby, with its 20-foot-high ceilings, brick columns and tile floor, will be the centerpiece of the restoration. Seven skylights that illuminate the hallway are being replaced.