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SANDWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Long Rang Plan
Facility Committee
Mt. Israel Grange
Vision
Statement
The Trustees of the Sandwich
Historical Society envision the
Grange building to be preserved as a
grange hall. As such the future uses of the building should be
consistent with the “Grange philosophy” of educating the community on
rural and agricultural issues. This vision should also result in
collaboration with various community groups, for example the Sandwich
Fair Association (the fair started as a “Grange Fair”), and the local
4-H group. Exhibits of the early agrarian history of Sandwich, as well
as exhibits of Fair memorabilia, and Grange artifacts would also be
appropriate.
Summary
of Trustee Discussion About the Grange
A Trustee discussion was held at
the June 17, 2007 Trustee meeting concerning the Grange. The following
is a summary:
There was consensus that the
upstairs be used for programs, such as lectures, community show and tell
(historical artifacts, etc.), and a meeting space.
There was also consensus that the
downstairs not be used for collections storage. The collection items
currently stored at the grange, unless they relate directly with the
grange, should be moved to the Quimby Barn (when the barn is ready to
accept those items).
There were a variety of uses
envisioned for the downstairs, ranging from a place to have community
suppers, access for children’s programs, seasonal exhibits, to a
research center.
Most of the Trustees envisioned
the use of the building to be primarily seasonal. However, some felt
that the Society should strive for a year round capability.
There was a question about the
“Visser approach” as being too restrictive; i.e., “The goal of the
long-term stewardship should be to preserve the building as it was at
the time of acquisition. Restoration to some earlier conjectural
appearance would inappropriate and destructive.” This concern was
primarily about preserving the furnace room addition and chimney and the
concrete front steps.
Implementation of the Vision
The facilities planning to achieve the desired
Society vision require goals with both long-term and short-term
objectives.
Goals
The strategic goals, from a facilities perspective,
are as follows:
1.
Preserve the building structure for public use.
2.
Provide the public safe access.
3.
Provide a safe building for public use.
4.
Provide an environment to preserve the contents of the building.
Objectives
Short-Term Objectives:
The following objectives can be achieved independent of the future use
of the building; therefore, have been considered short-term objectives:
- Animal Control
- Institute a mouse control program
- Foundation needs to be pointed to plug
access for mice/squirrels, etc.
- Check the attic for evidence of bats
- Structural Repair
- The sill under the front door of the
building needs to be repaired (the section of the sill directly
behind the concrete steps is rotten).
- At least one or two support posts need to
be replaced.
- The bracing for all eight posts needs to
be replaced.
- Paint all wood surfaces with Boracare
to preserve wood.
- Moisture control
- Shallow drainage to accommodate roof
runoff is needed on both the north and south side of the
building.
- Crawl space needs attention with respect
to moisture control.
- Crawl space should be assessed for
archeologically significant items prior to any work.
- Sand, dirt and rocks need to be
removed from the crawl space.
- Drainage pipe needs to be installed
(there may be a 4” diameter pipe running from the crawl
space to one of the storm drains on Maple Street).
- Crushed stone is needed to facilitate
drainage in the crawl space.
- TufCoat plastic sheeting is
needed for a moisture barrier.
- Increased ventilation during the
summer months is needed to reduce the moisture content and
help dry out the structural beams.
- Convert trap door access into a
screen window for summer season.
- Remove forced hot air ductwork and
put screen into former crawlspace window. (Also put
screen in window to furnace room.) Alternatively, use
ductwork to create ventilation system for crawl space.
- Insulation of the attic floor. (This would
help in reducing the temperature range in the building.)
- Clean attic space prior to installing
insulation.
- If there is evidence of bats,
identify and restrict bat access before insulating.
- Institute environmental monitoring of
temperature and relative humidity on both floors and in the crawl
space.
- Electrical system update
- The electrical system should be inspected
- Bring electrical system up to basic
code level.
- Develop a plan for updating the
system, consistent with the planned use of the building.
- Fire escape for secondary access upstairs
- An initial replacement of the current fire
escape as a temporary measure, if the footprint of the furnace
room is planned for other uses.
- As part of the fire escape construction
the furnace room roof should be replaced and the furnace room
structure stabilized.
- Preservation of the building exterior
- Removal of the chimney and repair of
structure, as necessary.
- Preparation and painting of the west side
of the building.
- Preservation of the building interior.
- Restore the painted curtain
professionally.
- Repair ceiling plaster in the stage area.
- Comprehensive cleaning of the interior space.
- Evaluate ADA access requirements and develop a
plan to bring the building/public uses into ADA compliance for
historic buildings.
Long-Term Objectives: Other
infrastructure objectives would need more planning, such as:
- Moving the collections storage to the Quimby
Barn (this would require stairs and possibly a simple “freight
elevator” system in the Quimby Barn to access the second story).
- Implement ADA compliant plan. For example,
handicap accessibility to the first floor would require a ramp
(probably to the side door on the north side of the building).
- Replacement of the concrete front steps with
granite steps and drainage to minimize water damage to the front
sill.
- Addition of bathroom facilities and tie-into
municipal sewer system.
- Addition of well for water supply.
- Provisions for parking.
- Use-specific electrical requirements.
- Addition of a vault storage area (especially
if the downstairs is used as research center focused on genealogical
and archival research).
- Heating system if the building is to be used
more than seasonally.
Summary
Implementation of the Society’s vision for the use
of the Grange building can (and should) be conducted in Phases.
Phase 1 addresses the short-term objectives
listed above. A detailed work plan is included in Appendix 1 that
includes tasks to be assigned to either volunteers or contractors, a
schedule to conduct the work and a budget. Phase 1 would be concluded
when the crawl space and associated structures have been repaired and
moisture controls in place (including the roof runoff drainage); the
first floor is cleared of stored items; there is an appropriate fire
escape in place for the second floor; the electrical system meets basic
code requirements; the west side exterior has been preserved; the
painted stage curtain and ceiling have been restored; and there has been
a comprehensive cleaning of the interior space.
Phase 2 would address the needs of the
building if the first floor space was used as an exhibit space and
meeting space; and the second floor space is used for lectures.
Phase 3 would address the needs of the
building if the first floor space was used as a research center, and if
there was the need for climate control, archival storage space, and
bathroom facilities.
Phase 4 would address the needs of the
building if it were to be used year round.
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