Quick Links
in this Section
Background Information on the STONE RIDGE LIBRARY Restoration
Fall 2006
The Stone Ridge Library will begin a major restoration of its historic buildings.
Shoring and bracing will go up on the east wall of the Library’s north house. Rods will also be installed at the attic level. This work will stabilize the 1798 stone building while additional engineering, restoration and fundraising are undertaken.
Michael Lynch, a stone-house expert who is advising the Library, grew up in High Falls and used the Library as a boy. He reports that the building is in overall good to fair condition; stabilization of the front wall is the primary concern.
Restoration planning started last year, when the Library received a grant from the Preservation League of New York to commission a detailed expert report on the two houses. Melissa Thompson of Rifton was hired to perform the study. Her draft report led the Library board to hire Mr. Lynch, who immediately installed gauges on several interior walls to monitor their movement. Those measurements led to the shoring and bracing being installed.
Ms. Thompson’s 161-page Historic Structure Report calls for a wide range of restoration. Among other things it includes installing appropriate gutters, rebuilding window frames and analyzing paints used in the houses over their long lives.
The support of the community will be critical to the Library’s ability to move forward on the highest priority restoration projects. The Stone Ridge Library Foundation has been formed to raise funds for restoration and future maintenance of these historic houses. For more information please contact Jody Ford at the Library, 687-7023.
A New York State grant of $20,000 toward the current work was facilitated by state Senator John J. Bonacic (R-C, Mt. Hope).
“As the Library nears the centennial of Julia Hasbrouck Dwight’s 1909 gift of the 1798 house to the community for a library, it is time to focus again on the houses and prepare them for the next 100 years,” said Jim Hoover, president of the Library’s board of trustees.
|
![The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries. [Descartes]](www_graphics_srl/basics/home_page_quote.gif)
