The owners of this
building had a number of concerns about their architecturally
significant building. The exterior had been neglected for 30 years
causing significant deterioration of the windows, stucco, copper eves,
roofing tiles and especially the Terra Cotta rain table of the lower
level. The main goal was to restore these areas as close as possible to
the original look of the building to maintain its historical integrity.
The original details of the rain table had become almost unrecognizable.
A mold of the detail was made from an undamaged section and used to
restore the remaining sections. Several of the windows were beyond
restoration, so new windows were fabricated to match the originals. Over
time, the Terra Cotta panels had become dislodged from their beds
allowing a significant pigeon population to take up residence inside the
cornice. The weight of the waste, feathers and deceased birds had caused
the cornice to separate at the seams and was in danger of causing the
panels to fall. After an exhaustive cleaning the tiles were leveled by
adjusting each tile support wire by hand. The cornice was raised to its
original location and was secured with galvanized wire to seal off the
former pigeon access points.
National Award
