The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
PHASE 1 TOPPED OFF
Roof repairs complete at Old Tavern in Unionville
About seven months since crews began the work of bringing the roof and porch area of the Unionville Tavern into compliance with modern codes, this first phase of its restoration is complete.
Although craftsmen have been steadily working on the 215-plus-year-old structure for going on two years now, most of the initial projects involved stabilizing the building’s foundation, walls and making other would-be hazards safe, the people behind the restoration have explained.
Don Jacobson, owner of Custom Mouldings & Millwork, which has been the contractor working on the ongoing stabilization and roofing projects,
“When we first got here, the ceilings were falling out of the portico and there were various other safety concerns.”
along with brother, Kevin, said in March that everything done before starting in on the roof was “emergency stuff” to mitigate decades of water damage and make sure none of the structure caves in or otherwise causes a dangerous situation as work is being done.
“When we first got here, the ceilings were falling out of the portico and there were various other safety concerns,” Don Jacobson said. “So we had to put up all the scaffolding in front right away to be able to keep it exactly as it was. That was immediately necessary, especially because of the snow loads we can have here. It’s not the prettiest thing to look at, but it does the job. And it’s going to go away.”
“There has been extensive work on stabilization that’s been done inside the building, some in the foundation,” said Brian Horgan, vice president and operations manager of the Unionville Tavern Preservation Society, which bought the property in August 2014 for $90,621.88.
He said that preliminary work cleared the way for Phase 1 to be completed, which involved restoring the roof and portico components.
Horgan said the work on phase 1, which was completed earlier in October, was funded through a $160,000 state cultural facilities grant, for which the society raised over and above the required $80,000 matching funds.
Willoughby Supply donated the shingles used to finfish the job, Horgan said.
“We were charged with raising $80,000,” he said. “We wound up raising $160,000.”
He said the total budget for this part of the project was around $268,000 and the organization used the extra funds raised for additional stabilization work. Horgan added that “that’s going to be kind of a continuing project into 2018.
“The building is, for all intents and purposes, stabilized. But at other places and during other times, we’ll likely see the need for additional stabilization,” Horgan said. “With this kind of work, we can account for what we know. But we’ll continue going through the building, identifying other needs.”
The next phase, he said, remains undecided for now.
“What phase 2 looks like, I’m not really sure,” he said. “Our first objective was to protect the building and get a better roof on it.”
He said, as with historical preservation work in general, much of it has to do with funding and where the next dollars will come from.
“Historical preservation is about three tiers: funding, funding and funding,” he said. “We can have the best tradesmen on the project, ready to go. But if we don’t have the funding to pay for the materials and workmanship, we can’t do anything.”
To help get its next round of fundraising started, the society held a spaghetti dinner fundraiser Oct. 23 at The Wagon Wheel in Madison Township.