Upper Balustrades Installed

Between yesterday and this morning, the upper balustrades were installed. The balustrades came from the workshop in multiple pieces, including the corner posts, rails, and finish molding. The urns, which never left the site, were one of the last pieces put into place. These photos show the work in progress.

Work will not take place tomorrow in observance of the 4th of July.

Project Team Profile

Name: Chick Milford

Title: Project superintendent

Company: Lee Kennedy Co.

How long have you done this? I have spent 23 years in the construction industry and 4 years with Lee Kennedy Co.

What is most rewarding about this project? From a construction perspective working on the preservation of this historic building is a great opportunity. What I feel to be the most rewarding portion of this project is meeting and working with the people involved in it. Each person associated with the project’s planning and the current construction administration, from The Bostonian Society and its museum staff to the architects and consultants, brings a passion and caring for the tower renovation project that I do not typically feel on most commercial construction projects. It is truly a pleasure to be part of the construction process with them.

Weathervane Returns to the Top

Yesterday morning members of our staff and the project team returned the newly gilded weathervane to its perch atop the Old State House. After being on display inside the museum for the last 3 weeks, and being professionally gilded the weathervane was carefully wrapped and carried up the scaffolding. Once at the top, the compass was placed on and then the spire was given a layer of grease to ensure the easy movement of the weathervane. As you see in the picture, Adele Barbato, Pam Bailey, Chick Milford, and Rainey Tisdale placed the weathervane onto its home. The weathervane will soon be visible and shinning brightly for the 4th of July.

Project Team Profile

Name: Rainey Tisdale

Title: Director of the Old State House Museum

Company: The Bostonian Society and Old State House Museum

How long have you done this? Seven years. I started out as The Bostonian Society’s collections manager and worked my way up, first to director of collections and exhibitions and then to director of the Old State House Museum.

What is most rewarding about this project? I’d say the project team, but did you notice that answer’s been taken by everyone else? So instead I’ll say the historical investigation. Since the tower is primarily made of wood, which is vulnerable to weather and to fire, I assumed it had been re-built so many times that very little of its 18th-century material survived. But when we peeled away the outer layers of siding and flashing, it turned out that most of the framing and the sheathing date as far back as 1748. It was really amazing to get an up-close look at 18th-century building material and techniques. Plus, nothing beats the view from the top of the scaffolding on a warm spring day.

Upper Balustrades Come Home and the Windows Get Installed

The upper balustrades came back from M&A Restoration's carpentry shop on Friday afternoon for a fitting. After extensive rebuilding in the shop, the top and bottom rails are new, as are the corner posts--they were too rotten to save. All the old balusters were restored and retained, however. With a little more work the upper balustrades will be finished and installed this week.

As noted in an earlier post, the windows came home last week and Friday afternoon they were fitted back into the frames.

Project Team Profile

Name: Brian LeMay

Title: Executive Director

Company: The Bostonian Society and Old State House Museum

How long have you done this? I've been with the Society for almost 4 years now.

What is most rewarding about this project? I've found the level of dedication in all our project partners to the ideals of historic preservation has been quite extraordinary. Nobody is going to become famous or wealthy working on this project, but everybody involved seems to be placing the interests of the building above their own.