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Restoring Public Buildings - Joy Sears, State Historic Preservation Office

11/10/2015

 
PictureJoy Sears up on Scaffolding
November 5, 2015 Episode.

There is a lot of interesting work happening on the historic resources in the Salem area.  Joy Sears, Restoration Specialist with SHPO, joined us today to let us know what the various cranes and scaffolding are bringing forth. One of Joy's responsibilities is to oversee any major work being done of National Register buildings.

PictureBligh's Capitol Theater, 1928 (Salem Online History coll.)
Some of the projects Joy described include the new Grand Theater sign. She advised that our downtown area has a history of being well-lit with many neon and other illuminated signs. Hopefully, other building owners will find similar historic photographs that will afford us the opportunity to see even more restored signs in the Downtown District.

Picture
Grand Theater, 2015
PictureOregon Supreme Court Bldg., 1922 (Salem Online History Coll.)
​Joy described the restoration work being done on the c1920 Supreme Court Building. The cornice at the top is one of the few examples in Salem of terracotta glazed tiles being used in a commercial building.  At the time, this was considered to be a less expensive alternative to stone masonry, and had the added benefit of being able to be formed into highly decorative pieces. Unfortunately, it is not a very durable material. Typically SHPO stresses using only in-kind replacement materials, but due to the lack of durability with this material, along with the fact that it is at the very top of the building where a pedestrian probably could not discern new from old materials, they are approving use of a modern replacement material. The original manufacturer of the tiles, however, is still around and will be making the reproductions. Joy wanted to assure us that the materials for the lower levels of the building facade will be in-kind to the originals. 

PictureLeBreton Hall, Fairview Complex
We were pleased to learn that during National Historic Preservation Month in May 2016, Joy will once again be leading a hands-on window repair workshop. The attendees will be working on a window at the new city-owned historic building, LeBreton Hall on the former Fairview Training Center campus in southeast Salem.  These workshops are extremely popular with both homeowners and contractors. Look for more information about the variety of events planned in 2016 when Salem hosts this statewide conference!  


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