How awesome that you are there in Texas, and just the person to help them out! If people like you did not study the past and preserve the knowledge, we' wouldn't be able to have these things again. County courthouses are iconic in the American story.
I remember that fire, I'm so glad they decided to restore the building (I'm assuming they're going to fully restore it, including the dome, etc.). And I'm glad you're doing the wood work. It will certainly be done right!
I remember seeing that on the news! Crazy how much damage it did... Looks like you guys have your work cut out for you! Very cool "peek behind the curtains" on how the windows are framed in that building. Good luck to you guys! 🍻 Thanks Brent
It looks like a very interesting project. It is suprising that so much charred woodwork is still in the building while they are as far along as they seem to be on the rebuild.
Great video! I remember seeing this story on the news. I’m a bit surprised that the restoration is already so far along but that’s probably due to your experience and expertise in restoring old courthouses. The irony with a fire happening to a large historic building like this is that it can frequently prevent a lot of businesses that are involved in historic restorations from going out of business. I remember watching a documentary on the rebuilding of Windsor Castle after the fire in the 1990’s and one of the architects working on the project said that at the time there was hardly anyone left in England that knew how to carve and assemble large oak beam trusses or do traditional stone carving and plaster work. Probably the only silver lining to that fire was that it prompted a lot of people to get interested in learning those crafts. I’m sure the same thing is happening in France right now after Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire. People are learning how to do the old trades again.
Great point. There is actually a book about an American carver that was hired to do the carving at Windsor to match Grinlin Gibbons work. It was kind of a big deal. FYI>
How stuff goes and comes round. Mid 2000s, I was developing data mining tools to get meaningful information from incoherent local authority social care and other systems. Microsoft launched its BIDS suite, and we attended a demonstration in Central London. We also found a superb implementation of BIDS applied to Texas Law Court data where each county recorded its data in very different ways. Now. I'm retired and getting back to my first enthusiasm from school, in late 1960s, making cabinets, furniture, and joinery. All hand tools except teacher used the table saw. He did let me use bandsaw and lathes. Got my feet up on a table that I made 55 years ago for my parents. Parents' house had sash windows just like that. We had to change the cords, which would have been 65 years old around 1970
Great to see you working on this and updating us. I went out there a couple of days after the fire to photograph what I could. I look forward to re-photographing the building.
"Built in 1909 to 1910 at a cost of $39,786" "Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden... said the cost of a complete restoration of the burned-out hull that was once a beautiful courthouse... will be in excess of $12 million. He promised he will get the building rebuilt and raise the money to do so. He has a head start. The building was insured for $3.4 million and the State of Texas last year granted Mason County about $4 million for a restoration project that had not begun when the courthouse burned. Bearden was adamant that his county will rebuild the courthouse to its historical specifications. He said only two pieces of furniture were recovered and his workers are still searching for the bell that was mounted in the clock tower that was destroyed. He believes it is underneath the rubble. The clock tower fell and was destroyed during the fire."
Thanks for sharing Brent. You certainly are the right company to do the work. Very challenging! Do they still make the glass with the safety wire inside for historical projects? Just wondering.
Do you think that person would like the second ruling better? Something is telling me they will still have an unhappy person in town. Never heard about chicken wire windows 🤔 interesting.
