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 Local news and information from Castine and Penobscot, Maine. |
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News Feature
by Sharon Bray The Historic Preservation Commission met with Witherle Memorial Library trustees and their architect Deborah Neve Friday afternoon, January 20, to revisit roof issues. The commission had approved plans for an addition to the historic structure last year with conditions requiring library representatives to return with a few details and to ask permission for any changes in the plan. As construction progressed, a problem with the height of the roof covering the access elevator resulted in changes atop the connection between the new section and the main building. The changed roof was installed before the January 4 commission meeting. “Why did this not come to us sooner?” asked commission chairman Ann Miller. “It is my fault,” responded library trustee Margery Read. “I was out of town.” She later added that all the trustees and their architect were out of town for at least part of December. Neve said she was away because her mother was “dying in the hospital.” Read also had urgent family matters elsewhere. Miller noted that a drawing for the change was dated November 28 and asked why no one from the library brought it to the commission’s attention in December. Neve said the November sketch was made to calculate its price. “We resisted making a change until the very last minute,” Neve continued. “We could have come to you and said ‘we may…’ but we didn’t know for sure we’d have to go this way until the last minute.” Commissioner Tom Mason asked, “What was the tipping point?” The arrival of elevator parts and an essential beam forced a decision, Neve said. The higher roof was required to meet state standards for safe clearance above the top of the elevator car. Historic architecture consultant Chris Glass had raised the possibility of roof design problems earlier in the design process. In addition to the height requirement, Neve noted drainage concerns had they built it differently. “This was not a design decision, but a technical problem solved in the most appealing way.” “You were exactly right to shift the roof forward to shorten the roof pitch,” commented Commissioner Jimmy Goodson, who is an architect. Additional costs are being covered by an unnamed donor, according to Read. “How long until the finishing touches?” inquired Miller. “Mr. Shea (construction contractor) claims the end of February or March,” Read said. Technical and mechanical work and some other interior construction will continue into the spring. Commissioners approved the design change. Neve also gave them updated information on lights and handrails. Read urged them to “peek behind the plastic” at the “amazing stonework” already completed. In other business at the special meeting, commissioners agreed to circulate a petition as drawn up by Code Enforcement Officer Drew Marks in consultation with Town Manager Dale Abernethy. The petition calls for an article to be on May’s town meeting warrant asking voters to expand the historic district from the area delineated in 1995 to include “the entire on-neck portion of Castine.” Mason noted that the National Register of Historic Places listed the entire area, plus a few specific off-neck properties, in February 1973. He added that the current historic preservation ordinance does not protect several significant historic sites including the light house, the cemetery, the Pentagöet archaeological site and several forts. The next regular commission meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 1. |
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