‘Selectmen’s Terrace’ Gets A Makeover––

Repair And Restoration At Edmond Town Hall

By Dottie Evans

Anyone walking past Edmond Town Hall these days might well ask what drastic changes are in store for the north end.

The answer would be, nothing.

At least, nothing that one could see from the outside.

The area has been cordoned off, a backhoe has dug a huge hole in the ground and bricks and rubble are being removed at a great rate.

“By the time we’re through, it’s going to look exactly the way it did before,” said Building Superintendent Clark Kathan recently.

In order to fix what is wrong –– a bad water leakage problem in the stone foundations –– everything had to be taken down before it could be put back up.

Mr Kathan explained that the project that started out small had become major.

It includes reconstruction and restoration of the original marble balustrade on what is jokingly termed “the selectman’s porch.” It also includes repair and restoration of the front façade and granite stairway. The work is slated for completion in August, Mr Kathan said.

Architectural design was done by Alan Black of Newtown and the contractor is Kronenburger & Sons Restoration, Inc of Middletown.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Mr Black was on the site Friday and he commented that the recently exposed foundation was “huge,” at least three feet wide.

“We haven’t found any buried treasure yet,” he said to Board of Managers Chairman Ed Beers, who was watching the excavation from the other side of the barrier.

It seemed the original foundation, now exposed, had been damaged by water and the side of the building and its porch had to be dismantled brick by brick, stone by stone, to get down to the problem.

“We’re going to be able to reuse every bit of the original marble and the granite, which came from a quarry in Deer Island, Maine,” Mr Black said.

 “We’ll put in a new reinforced concrete foundation and will extend the bomanite paving onto the terrace,” he added.

During the cleaning and repair process, the old bricks and marble blocks were stored in a work area at the back of the Edmond Town Hall parking lot.

Mr Kathan noted that the newly washed and repaired pieces might look a little different for awhile, since they would not have that “aged and weathered look.”

At First, Only A ‘Small Repair’

The renovation project was begun when evidence of water leakage within the stone and brick façade at the north end of the building came to light three years ago. The wall had begun bowing out, which was the first clue there might be a problem.

It had been 70 years since Edmond Town Hall was built in 1928, and Mr Kathan said they thought they were building it to last forever. But water has a way of working its way down in between bricks, and freezing and thawing cycles finally brought on big problems, he added.

“We thought this would be a quick cosmetic repair costing $13,000, but like most renovation and repair projects, it soon grew in scope.”

Once the terrace was dismantled, it seemed a good time to make electrical updates and now the transformer is outside the building structure, housed in its own dark green metal case.

“We’re putting in safeguards for waterproofing and drainage, and this time it should last forever,” Mr Kathan said.

“We’re trying for a foolproof plan with backups, in case there is ever a water leak in the wall.”

 The project will now cost slightly more than $100,000. It is being funded by the Board of Managers.

Mr Kathan said that grading must accommodate an ADA accessible ramp that will be constructed as part of the next phase of the work. Also included in the work are new recessed louvered light fixtures at the base of the wall for the illumination of the future ramp and granite steps, and a new pair of doors is proposed for access to a new exterior storage room.

But those projects are down the road. For now, the task is to put the north porch of Edmond Town Hall back together again, exactly as it was before, only better.