Old Boston State House in dire need, say preservationists
Blue scaffolding and green mesh shroud the building's exterior, as the society mounts a campaign to refurbish the Old State House by next month. Lashed by Tropical Storm Wilma in October, the venerable, 293-year-old structure suffered serious damage to its northeast corner, on State and Congress streets, said Brian LeMay , the society's executive director. Some of the structural problems were recognized years ago, but nothing was done about them, he said.
Responsibility for the building is divided among the city , which owns the Old State House, the National Park Service, which is responsible for maintaining it, and the Bostonian Society, which runs the museum inside, LeMay said.
After the storm, the Park Service provided $345,000 for repairs, state government provided a $50,000 grant, and the society raised $1 million from private donors.
``Between the two of them [the Park Service and the city], I believe it was incumbent upon somebody to oversee these matters," LeMay said yesterday. ``It wasn't the responsibility of the Bostonian Society to do it -- we leapt into it with both feet because it had to be done."
Jennifer Mehigan, a spokeswoman for the City of Boston, said it is the Park Service's responsibility to pay for repairs to the Old State House, but added, ``We try to work with them because we realize their budget has been cut over the years."
A spokesmen for the Park Service could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The challenge for preservationists is to replace bricks, mortar, plaster, and wood, faded from centuries of exposure to cold Boston winters and searing city summers, with new materials that will not disturb the building's historic appearance, said Donald Tellalian , a Boston architect who is helping to design the renovation.
``I suppose the highest compliment after we finish our work will be, `Well, gee, what did you do?' " Tellalian said.
Last October, rainwater seeped through the building's porous bricks and aging mortar, warping wooden wainscoting inside, stripping away paint, and causing plaster to bubble and buckle. Weakened from the fierce winds that blow through the canyon of glass and metal office buildings where it stands, the Old State House's northeast corner might have collapsed, LeMay said. An inspection of the building revealed slates were missing from the roof, the building's white tower -- once the highest point in the city, second only to Old North Church -- was rotting, and wooden windowsills needed replacing.