Old Main-Structural and Exterior Repairs

June, 2024: Restoration work on the brick and sandstone continues. Design is underway for temporary shoring inside the building that will allow for removal of the temporary exterior shoring, structural repair work and brick replacement. 

February, 2024: Restoration work on the brick and sandstone is underway.

January 23, 2024: The spiral stairs on the east side of the building are being removed between Jan. 15 and Feb. 2. They were added as fire escapes during a renovation in the 1980s and have deteriorated to an unsafe condition.

August 17, 2023: Ahead of the 2024 Old Main preservation project, a contractor extracted two large bee hives from within buttresses on the northwest and southeast corners of the building. The goal of the extraction was to ensure the building is structurally sound and for the exterior to be an element-proof system.

August 10, 2023: The brick, sandstone and subsurface investigations are wrapped up. We learned a lot and have been able to refine the design. The two biggest findings:

• We believe the window sashes are original, based on the craftsmanship, joining and the fact that the wood is old growth. So rather than building new sashes we’ll restore as many as possible.
• The mortar joints on the sandstone base are all in bad shape and only a few of the original beaded joint details have survived the years. We believe we have a strategy to repair the joints and reconstruct the beaded joints.