Exterior restoration complete at 250-year-old building Project spanned almost four years
The hammers have stopped outside Ottawa House museum. But you might still hear a few inside.
After almost four years, the exterior restoration work is complete on the historic 250-year-old building, the Parrsborough Shore Historical Society announced this week.
The board received the news from Randy Mosher, former board member who has been co-ordinating the work, that the building is now in the best condition it has been in for decades, and that they can now focus their efforts on annual maintenance.
“It’s been an exciting year for us, having taken ownership just a year ago this month,” said president Harriet McCready. “We are very proud of the accomplishments and extremely thankful for the donors, volunteers and contractors who made it all possible and continue to support the work of the society.”
McCready pointed out how far they have come since 20 months ago, when volunteer Ed Gilbert was on his knees on the second floor, spreading sawdust in an effort to slow the flow of water through the south wall during a winter storm.
The restoration project began in 2012 with work on the north wall by Nova Scotia’s Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal staff, and followed in subsequent years by local contractors, made possible by numerous federal, provincial, municipal and individual grants and donations, and countless volunteer hours.
Much of the exterior work involved stripping the exterior cladding, removing rot, repairing or rebuilding necessary sections, insulating, recladding and installation of new custombuilt windows. A bay window was also rebuilt in the dining room portion of what is now named “The Great Room.”
“We were pretty sure there had once been a bay window below the second floor bay window in the Lady Tupper Suite, and when the workers stripped off the cladding, the evidence was obvious,” said McCready.
Other aspects of the recent work included the raising of the verandah deck, paving of the accessible parking area, strengthening and expansion of the breakwater, improvements to Partridge Island Road and parking lot and repairing of the storage shed.
More work remains to be done on the interior, and the society has until March 31, 2017, to take advantage of matching dollars from a Department of Canadian Heritage Legacy Fund. Donations will be matched 100 per cent for remaining work on renovations and implementation of the new interpretive plan for exhibiting the museum’s artifacts.