The main barn at historic Robert’s Ranch Museum in Immokalee Florida will be getting a new roof. Located on Roberts Avenue, twenty historic structures on the ranch tell the story of pioneer families.

The 15 acre living history museum was originally the home to cattleman Robert Roberts and his family. The museum provides visitor’s with the opportunity to experience daily working life on a pioneer homestead and citrus grove from the early 1900s.

Roof Finished in a Month

Collier County Roofing will be replacing the metal roof later this month and should be finished by the end of July. The new roof will resemble the original roof in color and shape and will be a 26 gage Galvalume 5 CV Crimp metal roof system.

A high priority is being placed on preserving the original buildings to accurately retell the story of the ranchers and pioneers that settled in the area.

In New Bern North Carolina work could soon begin on the roof repair of the Queen Street Depot built in 1910. Bids will be accepted from mid to late July and work should begin by September.

The new roof is the starting point for the buildings restoration. New Bern Preservation Foundation, the City of New Bern and the building owner North Carolina Railroad are hoping to make the building a ‘destination centerpiece’ for that part of the city.

Dallas Blackstone, past president of the NBPF said “the basic project we are trying to address is to secure, replace and rebuild all the roof sections to weather-proof the building, we can’t do anything inside until we do.”

Salvaging 90% of Depots Wood

The project architect David Gall of Winston-Salem inspected the trim at the top of the building to evaluate the condition. Gall concluded 90% of the 1900’s architecture design and colors could be maintained by salvaging and restoring the wood.

Joe Mansfield, president of the preservation group said “completing the roof will set in motion the remainder of the long term rehabilitation of the depots interior.”

Historic Natchez Mississippi house is getting roof repairs and restoration on the home’s onion shaped cupola. Longwood was originally owned by Dr. Haller Nutt when construction on the house stopped in 1861. The contractor refused to work in the area when the civil war broke out.

The Nutts as well as other slave owners at the time, lost their money stored in confederate banks. After Nutt died, his wife and 8 children lived in the basement of the unfinished home for the rest of their lives with little or no money.

The Pilgrimage Garden Club was given the house in 1989 and soon after made a fiberglass replica of the original 23 foot oak finial that had fallen off the house in 1900.

Crews Worked Inside and Out of the Cupola

Crews from Concordia Contracting, Smith Sheet Metal and painter Johnny Franks have been working on the roof and cupola. They pressure washed and painted the dome red, fixed holes in the tin structure and have repaired or replaced the woodwork below the dome and the banisters wooden spindles around the cupola. While some worked from a crane on the outside, others were able to work on the woodwork from inside the house.

Fundraising is an ongoing project for Longwood repairs. The Pilgrimage Garden Club has tried to keep the home in the same condition as it was 150 years ago.

In New Haven Connecticut the Holy Transfiguration Russian Orthodox Church is getting a much needed roof repair. The 30 foot dome was damaged by last winters Tropical Irene and subsequent storms.

The onion shaped Byzantine Empire style dome is to help worshipers witness God according to Father Michael Westerberg who leads the 150 member church. The church was originally founded in 1915 on Dixwell Avenue and moved to its current location at Alden and Burton in 1967.

The last time the dome was worked on was in the mid 1980’s. Woodbridge Roofing repaired the mansard base for the dome in April, the building was power washed and the dome removed and placed in the parking lot under a tarp to be worked on.

Copper Shingles and Rosettes

A crew of 8 including the roofing company owner Paul Leyertue are removing the rust and replacing the steel skeleton, scoring the plywood so it makes the onion shaped curves and applying thousands of rust resistant stainless steel screws. 400 diamond shaped copper shingles will go over the skeleton and 500 rosettes all of gleaming new copper.

The churches insurance is paying a large portion of the project and Leyertue said he will take care of the difference. “I call it my tithing. It’s between me, my wife, and God” he said.

They are hoping the job will completed in two weeks and a crane will be able hoist the finished dome into place. Leyertue estimates the dome will weigh close to 5 tons. Father Westerberg said his congregation will hold a formal ceremony and a blessing when the work is finished.

Michigan Historic Preservation Network gives special praise for the restoration work of the cupola of the Jackson, Michigan Theater.

The roof repair and cupola restoration began in August 2011, the cupola was rebuilt and restored by November. Weatherwax Foundation and other cash donations paid for the $71,3000 project.

Hilltop and Lake did the work, John Guidinger served as restoration coordinator and Robert Cole as project architect.

Used Much of Original Materials

The cupola had rotten wood, loose mortar and rusted steel. They disassembled and rebuilt the structure using as much of the original terra cotta, brick, wood, copper and Spanish roof tiles as they could. Areas that needed to be replaced, materials were replicas of the original pieces.

The leaking roof made the theaters third floor, 2 bedroom “managers apartment” uninhabitable. Now that the roof is fixed, Habitat for Humanity will begin restoration on the apartment.

The theater was built in 1930 and closed after 46 years. In 1993 the non profit Michigan Theater of Jackson took the building over and has been restoring it ever since. The theater is active with movies, concerts, stage performance and private rentals.

Phase 1 of restoring the old public library in Braintree Massachusetts has begun. Phase 11 is replacing doors and windows and phase 111 will be completing the handicap accessibility.

Phase 1 is removing and restoring the 140 year old slate roof. While replacing the slate, roofers will inspect the deck and framing beneath the roof. The copper ridge, caps and finials will be restored. New copper gutters and downspouts will also be installed.

General Contractor T. Cooney Inc. and subcontractors NER Construction Management Inc. and Meadows Construction Company will work closely with the Historical Agricultural firm Bargmann Hendrie and Archtype Inc. who will oversee the project.

Money Approved Over a Year Ago

Last July the town of Braintree approved to pay for the restoration from the community preservation funds. The project is expected to cost $218,000. The town will receive $45,000 reimbursement from the Massachusetts Historical Commission Mass Preservation Project Fund if the work is completed by the end of June.

In 1870 General Sylvanus Thayer proposed to help fund a fireproof library for the town. The public library opened in September 1874 and was the town library for 79 years. The Braintree water department now operates out of the historic building.

In 1999 a new 3 level public library was built across the street from the Old Thayer Library.

In St. Augustine Florida a debate is raging over red roof tiles. St. Paul AME Church purchased a historic building directly across from their church in 2010. The historic Echo House was built in 1926 and has had 3 owners in the last 86 years. Subsequently, the city of St. Augustine has sent the church an order to repair the building or demolish it.

Reverend Ron Rawls said the building will be used for an after school mentoring program once the renovations are completed. He also said they have spent more in the last two years repairing the building than has been put into it since the late 1970’s. Previous estimates to repair the deteriorating building was up to $600,000.

Sold About 2,000 Tiles

Some of the roof tiles were removed and Reverend Rawls said the church plans to put shingles on the new roof since it is less expensive. The church has sold 16 to 20 pallets of Terra Cotta roof tiles to a roofer, who then sold them to a contractor who then sold them to a homeowner.

The debate comes in because the city of St. Augustine and City Attorney Ron Brown said the church applied for a historic preservation grant and received $2,000 to use the original red tiles to restore the roof. Brown said “the city – with agreement and cooperation of church – applied for the grant.”

Reverend Rawls denies any knowledge of the grant and asked the city to provide proof that he signed any documents pertaining to the grant. The city was unable to provide any documents with the Reverend’s signature.

One option the city is considering is taking the church to court over a “reverter clause” in the deed. Brown explained “if the owner of the property used the property for any purpose other than education, non profit or benevolent work than the city could go to court and ask for the property back.”

Reverent Rawls said “you don’t go from telling us to demolish a building to making the tiles this huge beautiful thing you want to get back.”

Presently the roof tiles are in limbo and sitting in front of the property. The latest meeting with the parishioners and city officials was left unsettled on the roof tile issue.

In Grafton Ma, the historic Willard House and Clock Museum will be getting a new synthetic cedar shake roof. O’LYN Roofing, a New England roofing specialist has been hired to fix the leaking roof.

The museum holds over 80 priceless clocks from the colonial era collection. The clocks were created by Simon Willard along with his father and four brothers. The Willard’s began making clocks in the small Massachusetts workshop in 1766. The museum is the birthplace and original workshop of the Willard clockmakers.

Winter Storm Damaged the Roof

A storm in 2011 was too much for the several hundred year old structure and water began pouring down the walls narrowly missing the priceless clocks.

When talking about the synthetic cedar shake roof, O’LYN’s production manager Todd Mellor said “It was chosen because it will not only keep the same look and maintain the buildings historic integrity but it will also provide more of a fire retardant surface than the material it is replacing. We had to bring in a structural engineer to determine how best to reinforce the building to make sure it could handle that additional weight of the synthetic roof and we’re confident this is the way to go.”

Work has already begun to reinforce the structure; they expect the roof repairs to take approximately one week.

St. Mary the Virgin Church at Stoneleigh Village, Warwickshire is in desperate need of repairs to the historic building. The copper roof is in danger of splitting due to the decaying stonework and nave roof.

If the roof is no longer properly supported they fear the copper will break and water will pour into the church. Experts believe the whole structure needs to be taken apart and some of the beams need to be replaced. Along with the roof repairs, the crumbling stonework around the windows needs to be fixed to stop the water from coming in.

With ties to the village, former commonwealth Olympic Gold medalist and Coventry’s lead ambassador to the 2012 Olympics, David Moorcroft is initiating a campaign to raise the money needed. The parochial church council has received 42,000 from the national churches trust and private charity, but still needs to raise 263,000.

800 Years of Services

The church building is in red sandstone and Norman in origin with a chancel arch (around the alter) dated back to 1100. Additions were made to the church in the 17th and 19th century. The copper nave roof is from the 1950’s.

Fundraising efforts will begin March 30 when David Moorcroft will be giving a talk at Stoneleigh Village Hall. For more information call 853238 or go to www.stoneleighvilage.org.uk.