Historic Structures Report

Mechanics Hall

AdditionsCondition AssessmentHistoric PreservationHistoric Structures ReportMaster Planning

The Maine Charitable Mechanic Association (MCMA) formed in 1815 as a fellowship for Portland’s blacksmiths, coopers, carpenters, draftsmen, architects and more and in 1857 constructed Mechanics’ Hall on Congress Street. The building was designed by T.J. Sparrow, Esq. in the Italianate style with a rusticated granite façade, stores at the street level, a library, classrooms, and a dining hall. The building was used intensively by the City and State during the Civil War, housing soldiers departing and returning from battle. In 1890 a John Calvin Stevens designed ballroom was added as a third level.

Barba + Wheelock was hired by the organization to prepare a Historic Structure Report and master plan funded by a matching grant from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. The purpose of the report is to gather historical information, document existing conditions, and identify appropriate recommendations and costs for full rehabilitation of this highly significant property for the City of Portland and the State of Maine.

For Mechanics’ Hall, their (B+W) engineering and architecture team worked with the Construction Manager to develop a practical approach to replacing and restoring the massive roof and clerestory monitor.

I highly recommend the architects and engineers at Barba + Wheelock as one of the few A/E firms that can guide historic properties, additions, and restorations with such excellence and aplomb.

– Paul Stevens, Trustee and Building Committee Chair

The building is currently not handicap accessible and its second means of egress is an exterior fire escape. The master plan design calls for a new stair/elevator tower addition in the alley to the rear of the building. A new accessible entry is to be added along Casco Street, leading to a new first floor corridor linking the new entry to an elevator lobby, the two first floor stores and to the existing front entry. This design provides an added benefit of connecting to the fourth floor timber framed attic without penetrating the roof of the existing building and allowing for public use of this spectacular space. It also greatly improves egress capacity for assembly use.

The MCMA intends to use the report to spearhead a fundraising effort for the full rehabilitation. Bringing the building up to modern standards will support its mission of providing the creative maker community with a place to gather and exchange ideas and practical knowledge.

Since completion of the HSR, B+W has undertaken numerous projects for Mechanics’ Hall, including:

Roof repair and replacement.
Stair addition designs – multiple options were explored including off-site steel fabrication to allow for a low cost solution that could be craned in, and then covered with simple covering, averting foundation issues and tight working conditions.
Creating ADA access from Casco Street by changing a window opening into a door, and review with Portland Historic Preservation Commission.
Code analysis for floor separation between uses, and negotiation with SFM and CEO to increase egress safety while retaining the majority of historic character of the entrance stair hall.
Simple kitchen design for potluck and some catering with a review of new openings to the Ballroom with MHPC.
National Register reclassification.

Winslow Homer Studio

Historic PreservationHistoric Structures Report

Included in the scope of services were: examination of the history and use of the structure, cultural landscape review, examination of finishes, systems and recommendations for its future use and preservation.

A team of professionals included: architectural historians, mechanical, structural and electrical engineers who specialize in historic structures, landscape architects, and forensic finish experts. Working together to produce detailed drawings of the current structure and site, chain of title showing its evolution to present day, and scenarios for future use, this team was assembled and led by Barba + Wheelock on behalf of the Portland Museum of Art. Interviews were conducted with the Homer family and Homer scholars across the United States for their personal knowledge and expertise in piecing together verifiable and anecdotal evidence.

B+W worked with noted scholar, Architectural Historian James O’Gorman. From the on-site and historical documentation we were able to create drawings of how the studio appeared during Winslow Homer’s tenancy. The preservation treatment recommendations became a combination of restoration, reconstruction, and rehabilitation, all based on the Secretary of Interior’s Standards. B+W worked closely with a professional model maker to create a scale model of the restored studio & site, the model was on display at the Portland Museum of Art.

Harriet Beecher Stowe House

Adaptive ReuseHistoric PreservationHistoric Structures Report

Originally constructed in 1805 for Benjamin Titcomb by noted Brunswick master builder Samuel Melcher, the house at 63 Federal Street in Brunswick was home to distinguished residents such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, then a student at Bowdoin College. It was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1963. The house was purchased by Bowdoin in 2001.

Its most famous resident was Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin while living here. Stowe and her family rented the house while her husband Calvin Ellis Stowe was Professor of Natural and Revealed Religion at Bowdoin (1850-1852). While attending a service at First Parish Church, Mrs. Stowe had a vision of the death of a slave named Uncle Tom. From this small spark grew the serialized story which became the influential book Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Following the residency of the Stowe family the structure remained a private residence until 1946, when it became an inn. Bowdoin College commissioned B+W for a Historic Structure Report to determine the history and evolution of this building. A primary concern was the identification of any surviving fabric from the Stowe family’s residency.

The report is organized into two volumes. The first volume of the report includes measured drawings, documentation of existing conditions, paint and material analyses, examination of construction methods employed in original construction and later alterations, and historical research. The second volume presents preservation and maintenance recommendations, as well as two possible restoration approaches. Our approach preserves spaces that retain their historic appearance and fabric, and inserts modern necessities in already compromised spaces. All the recommendations are based on the findings of the first volume of the report and follow Secretary of the Intentions for treatment.

The rehabilitation project evolved as a construction managed project where B+W was engaged to prepare construction documents, negotiate equivalencies with the State Fire Marshal, and follow through construction administration to completion.

Bowdoin College ultimately decided to create faculty offices and dedicate one of the original parlors to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Writing Room, that is open to the public.

Historic Structures Report

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