The Chronicle stops the presses- Play offers new twist on classic story
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- Athletics updates for Feb. 15
- Baseball off to best start in program’s history
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Class in the Spotlight
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Students practice preservation in local church
 Photo by Jeremiah Jossim Jamal Byrd, an undergraduate historic preservation student at the Savannah College of Art and Design, applies paint to a newly plastered wall at the Unitarian Universalist Church March 8. By Monique Bos Published: Friday, March 30, 2007 When Savannah College of Art and Design professor Jim Abraham took students in his Preservation Techniques II course into an unused room in the Unitarian Universalist Church, 313 E. Harris St., in January, one corner of the floor was bowing and ready to fall in. Two months later, that section was shored up, rebuilt and seamlessly blended into the rest of the floor. The 16 students total, from both sections of the course, spent the winter quarter working on a large room, a smaller storeroom and a hallway located in the back part of the historic structure, stripping paint, re-plastering, painting, sanding and doing other preservation tasks. “We got an opportunity with the church to do a total restoration — the walls, floors and mantel,” said Abraham. “I’m always looking for projects to do in class, and it worked out great — this covers all the elements of restoration we get into.” The largest room will serve as a combined library and conference room for the church, which is located on Troup Square. “The room had dirty green walls and hadn’t been used in 10 to 15 years,” he said. “There was termite damage, and the floor in the corner was collapsing … The baseboards were eaten up on the back side. It was an exciting opportunity for the students to use many of the techniques in restoration that we talked about in class and run into out in the field. It’s a very proactive course for them.” Students removed the windows and restored the window weights, as well as restoring stained glass windows that once hung in the church’s sanctuary and that may be used in the library. They covered the walls with a fiberglass mesh before they started painting. “The first thing wherever possible is to preserve the original fabric as best we can,” Abraham explained. “By putting fiberglass on the wall, we can preserve the original plaster even though it’s cracked badly and beginning to loosen.” The students rebuilt sections of the wall, redid molding and applied paint selected by a committee from the church. “We got to rip off awful ’70s siding,” said Jaime Clement. “It was awesome — that was my favorite part.” Katie Arceneaux said she enjoyed learning from the professional the class hired to apply the plaster to the fiberglass. “He’s been doing this for like 50 years,” she said. “He learned at age 10 and did it with his father and his grandfather. That was cool.” And — as happens with many preservation projects — the group had a surprise. When they stripped layers of white paint off the mantel, which they thought was cast iron, they discovered it was actually made of slate. Other surprises were less pleasant. “I never knew people had milk-based paint, and you can’t strip it!” said Arceneaux. “There was milk paint on the doors and trim, and we scrubbed and scrubbed.” Chandler Brooks and Marv Burton tackled the rotting corner of the floor. They had to go in underneath the structure to replace the support beams, as well as fixing the floorboards and baseboards. “You could tell there was nothing [underneath] supporting those boards anymore,” said Brooks. “I never actually believed it would come out looking this good,” Burton said. Brooks explained that they used a technique called leafing to blend the old floorboards with the new. “You alternate the boards and cut them in different lengths,” he said. “There’s not one line where the boards end.” In addition to the physical labor on various parts of the room, students visited the county courthouse to excavate the building’s history. “The students have done a lot of research on the building,” Abraham said. “They learned that at one time, rather than two separate units in front, this was a townhouse. This room could have been a double parlor, and there was a porch back here at one time.” They were required to incorporate this information into their final projects. “For the final, each student has to do a short paper discussing the whole project, including measured drawings and photographs,” explained Abraham. “One of them will be submitted to the church board so they’ll have it as a permanent record.” He said he was pleased with how the renovations were progressing. “This room is coming out nicely — nice and crisp,” said Abraham. “It will be nice to see when they get their lighting in and furnish it.” Jamal Byrd said the course provided him with insights into renovating inside a building. “It’s learning about the building, things they’ve changed over time,” he said. “I’ve also learned to work around people and understand the process of rehabbing rooms.” Burton, a non-traditional student who has practiced law and sold real estate, said the course fulfilled his expectations. “I’ve had a good time this quarter and learned a lot, and it was just what I wanted to learn,” he said. “I can’t wait to come back and do it again!”  |
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