Preserving Historic Windows: Window Repair as Economic Stimulus
By Hallock
Svensk
As federal, state and local governments
consider investing in America’s infrastructure on a massive scale, a recent
visit to Johnson Millwork in Haddam Neck provided a vision of the impact such
investment might have if directed towards preservating, restorating, and
retrofitting existing buildings, instead of towards new construction. With President-elect
Obama discussing the need to address the inefficiency of our nation's building
stock, there is reason to believe that some federal funding will be directed to
the renovation and retrofitting of existing buildings. As such,
preservationists have the opportunity to make a powerful case for the benefits
of preservation work.
Johnson Millwork, which has been in
existence for more than 50 years and specializes in period woodwork, has worked
on the restoration of Gillette Castle, the Mark Twain house, and the Old State
House, as well as on buildings at Wesleyan, Yale, and Brown universities.
Throughout their careers, the firm’s partners, Bob Johnson and Peter Smith,
have not only proved themselves to be talented woodworkers, but have rendered
faithful service to Connecticut architecture. With such diverse experience and
with the expertise to make their own tools if the job requires it, there is, as
they say, almost no historic window, door, or wood detail they can't fix.
This is true, in part, because historic
material is inherently fixable. Whereas the failure of modern windows and doors
more often than not necessitates the replacement of the entire unit, older
casements can have damaged or rotted parts
repaired or replaced. In addition, modern materials, particularly lumber, have degraded
significantly, thereby contributing to leaks, failure, and again, replacement.
Johnson and Smith pride themselves on not having to purchase a lot of new
material. Instead, they recycle what they can and get other parts they need
from salvage.
Thus, when preservationists speak of
preservation work as being "labor intensive" as opposed to
"materials intensive," they mean that not only are more of the costs
being directed to the employment of skilled labor, but they are also being
directed away from the need to use new materials of questionable quality.If the goal of infrastructure
investment is economic stimulus, increased employment, and environmental
sustainability, paying for labor as opposed to raw material would seem to be an
intelligent use of funds.
The federal government, in considering
how best to improve the efficiency of its buildings and put people back to
work, would do well to look at its historic building stock—for example,
historic town halls and school buildings—as a sector which would benefit
greatly from strategic investment. In revitalizing its older buildings, the
government would not only bring down long term energy costs, put talented
artisans to work, and limit use of scarce raw materials, but it would prove
itself to be the responsible steward of our nation's history we expect it to
be.
PHOTOGRAPH
caption:
Diamond-paned windows, restored by Johnson Millwork, compliment the all-over
texture of the stonework at Gillette
Castle.
