Masonry Conservation Accomplished!

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 10, 2023

With the COVID-19 Pandemic severely slowing the start of the conservation project and supply chain issues, as well as weather, among other things, it has been a long road but we have finally completed the masonry conservation and roof repairs at our historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory!


I say “we” but this was the fantastic work of island mason, Wayne Morris. He has accomplished a great deal and the building is now weather tight, brick and grout are secure, and we have new steel lintels over doors and windows. It sounds simple doesn’t it? But, it is not and it has taken a lot of time and care – and all sort of new and interesting issues were revealed as old repairs were removed and things were opened up – things you cannot see until you dig. Even removing one lintel is a painstaking process – especially on the main floor where you have large stone pieces over each opening that “hide” the original iron (and rusting) lintel beneath. It’s not everyone who can do a project such as this and the MMA is lucky to have had Wayne Morris. He’s talented, knows how to think outside the box, and genuinely knows and loves what he does. He spent a lot of hours grinding up stone to match the 1908 and 1922 grouts and trying to match the color. Not many will take that time and its important that we do for conservation reasons. I’ve learned some things from him over the years – including to call it “grout.”


I would also like to thank James Lydon and Sons and Daughters for the work to the rubber and copper on the two roofs, and to Jeff Schneider and Ellis and Schneider Electrical for moving the electrical lines so that the mason could get to one of the lintels in the basement. Apparently, at some point, long ago, they thought it was a good idea to run conduit pipe for electrical wires in FRONT of a cellar window thus negating the possibility of it being opened AND blocking the lintel that Wayne Morris needed to replace!


We still have to clean up the landscape, put in a French drain in front, and paint the windows and wood door – and remove the paint from the original 1908 copper door. Then, the exterior will be complete. Next up, conservation of the interior which will include conservation of the original 1922 Astronomical Study’s floor and woodwork, painting, the addition of new wood storms on the façade, HVAC, and electrical upgrades. So, there is more to come – but first we needed to be weather tight!


JNLF


P.S. Not sure what I am going to do. I’ve worked on several projects here at MMA and at the Coffin School with Wayne Morris. I keep teasing him we can’t let him go. Going to miss seeing his truck parked in our front yard at MMA – a parking spot only he could have!

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