[MassHistPres] our town hall

[Marcia Starkey]

Hello,
Does this suggest that there are different roles for those who commit to 
maintaining "museum quality " buildings and that public support for the 
particular "heritage information" they preserve deserves public 
support..much as libraries, social services or other public values?
Marcia Starkey, Greenfield

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Winwilb at aol.com>
To: <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] our town hall


>
> Some thoughts on the many aspects of this issue from my son, a builder who
> specializes in the renovation/restoration- and who believes in 
> preservation,
> but  raises some interesting related issues.
> Win Wilbur
>
>
> "This sounds like a continuance of our past conversation on this issue. I
> think that Mr Hadley, as a preservationist, has his own ax to grind here.
> Maintaining a base of  "knowledgeable woodworkers and painters as  part of 
> the
> preservation strategy for wood buildings" is certainly important,  and I'm 
> not
> trying to sound like a Republican, but on whose shoulders should  this 
> fall?  The
> taxpayers of MV? Additionally,  I'm no expert on the  foundation issue, 
> but
> have to wonder if this is to efficiently create additional  space at lower
> additional cost or even perhaps to help make the building ADA  compliant?
>
>
> It's NOT true that Azek needs to be painted, although it only comes in
> white. (Mr Hadley should check their website _http://www.azek.com_
> (http://www.azek.com/) ) but it does tend to  take paint better than 
> new-growth wood, it comes
> in longer lengths and thus  requires fewer joints, and can even be welded 
> on
> the joints, so that it needs no  caulk. It does expand and contract, and 
> it
> does so at about the rate that  softwood expands ACROSS THE GRAIN, but in 
> length
> as well. Modern architectural  coatings are made to accommodate this, in
> fact, Sherwin Williams has a product  specifically for cellular PVC.  You 
> can
> certainly go down the "it uses  fossil fuels" line of argument, but so 
> does
> purchasing, shipping and applying  coatings for years to come.
>
>
> Yes, there are differences between the look of aluminum clad windows and 
> the
> original single glazed ones. But even most professional builders would be
> hard pressed to tell the difference at 25 ft:  Marvin (and I assume KML, 
> which
> is owned by Andersen) makes a 5/8" mullion with a putty glaze profile, and
> they make literally dozens of extruded aluminum casing profiles - they'll 
> even
> match what you have in an existing building. In my 20+ years in the
> renovation/restoration building business I've seen exactly one (1) client 
> who  properly
> maintains his wood windows and trim.  He lives on the water in  Cape
> Elizabeth and has his painters inspect, repair, and touch up his house 
> EVERY spring.
> I've seen hundreds more who have NOT maintained their wood windows  and 
> trim
> and face very expensive repairs.
>
>
> For me it boils down to a compromise, or at least a trading of values: It
> certainly makes sense to preserve "authentic" historical structures so 
> that we
> may learn from them in the future. Where it becomes less clear is where we
> have  to accept the "real world" as it is:  This project is an excellent 
> example:
> Is there the public will (in the form of additional tax dollars) to
> preserve and then maintain an historical structure which must still be 
> functional
> and appropriate for a current public use?  Perhaps if Mr Hadley  wants to 
> be a
> purist it's better to sell the building to a private party who can  and 
> will
> maintain it (require an endowment?!), and then build a new  structure.
>
>
>>From my perspective it boils down to one fundamental issue:  Is the  civil
> society willing to pony up the additional funds to:
> A. Restore the existing structure including windows and exterior  millwork
> B. Pay a premium on the construction and finishing cost of an
> authentic-all-wood structure
> C. Maintain the restored structure and the new addition, probably needing
> paint every two years given the greater porosity of new growth wood and 
> the
> lower level of protection provided by modern lead-free and Low-VOC 
> compliant
> architectural coatings.  In my experience public buildings are NOT 
> generally
> maintained properly, and thus suffer deterioration, as this structure 
> apparently
> has.
> D. Pay the additional amount it will cost to heat/cool a building that 
> does
> not have insulated glass? (Or is Mass Hist Pres suggesting wood storms -
> another  maintenance nightmare)?
> E. Use the additional resources (i.e. burn the fossil fuel) required to 
> heat
> AND to scrape, prime, and paint the structure religiously.
>
>
> Is this the right way for society to spend its finite dollars?  Or  ought 
> we
> be educating kids better, maybe taking them on a field trip to see the
> preserved houses in town so they gain a sense of history and value what 
> HAS been
> saved.
>
>
> WOW, this has turned into a rant, but it is an issue I think about every
> day. I totally believe in preservation (I grew up in Concord, I was a 
> history
> major, I work on old buildings) but we as a society have to maintain a 
> balance.
> Sort of like Cape Winds or the proposed wind farms on Maine's wilderness
> trails  - which way do we go there?
>
>
> Food for thought... Michael
>
>
> Michael Wilbur, Willow Ledge Builders
>
> 207.846.6944 office
> 207.671.3792 cell
>
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