Glen Echo Park

Bumper Car Pavilion - rehabilitation project

This page documents some of the activities undertaken in the investigative stage of re-habilitating the Glen Echo Park Bumper Car Pavilion. As a designated historic structure it has many interesting architectural features which should be preserved. From a practical standpoint it will provide a valuable outdoor pavilion for classes, dance, concerts, festivals, picnics, and the like as it used to be before being closed for safety reasons.
In February 1997 a group of volunteers under the guidance of National Park Service ranger Stan Fowler started work to investigate how far deterioration of the structure had gone. Work was also planned to stabilize the structure so that no more damage would take place due to moisture and termites.
You can click on any of the small pictures below to get a larger view.

Measurements on the pavilion have been translated into a Computer Assisted Design (CAD) showing the contours of the floor, the underside of the roof trusses, and the main chords. The chart shows the amount that various parts of the pavilion had sunk towards the ground. It will also make a great quilt design!

CAD drawing of the roof trusses and floor contours. When CAD is used it is possible to do 'what if' simulations to see the effect on the whole of moving one piece!

Here is the source of much of the trouble with the structural timbers - the termite. The termite cannot thrive without moisture. The tarmac that had been used to carefully seal the edge of the pavilion to protect it actually provided termite 'heaven' by preventing the moisture that did get in from getting out again.. You get a lot of termites for a penny.

Investigations started with the floor. When it was used for Bumper Cars the floor was covered in steel plates to conduct the electricity. The steel plates were all screwed to the wooden underfloor and welded to each other at their corners. Removal of the plates was not going to be easy. This one has rusted along the edge where water has blown in from the outside.

Once a plate had been removed the wooden underfloor could be seen. Near the corners of the building, where rain has got in and not been able to dry out under the plates, a significant amount of rot has taken place. The measuring rule that appears in many of these pictures is used to show the relative size of parts of the building. All material removed has been carefully logged since this is a designated historic building.

At another corner the floor rot was also bad. The joists underneath had mainly survived.

Once the damaged wood, nails, dirt, and other trash has been removed the extent of the damage can be assessed. So far the damage to the floor has been encouragingly small in the parts that have been exposed. There is still quite a lot of steel plate to be removed.

This work does not happen by magic! Teams of volunteers come to the park most weekends to work. Here is an early gang of Friday Night Dancers clearing rotton flooring and joists so that some of the damage can be recorded.

After clearing out the damaged flooring the next step was to investigate the supporting columns. There are 9 of these down each of the long sides. The damage to the bottom of these by moisture and termites was what had caused the building to sag. In order to work on the columns the roof had to be supported by scaffolding. Local construction company, Miller and Long, donated the loan of scaffolding for the project and this picture shows the first stage of this being erected. It is standing firmly on the area cleared earlier in the project.

This view for the outside looking in shows the scaffold ready for jacking up the roof trusses.

Here is a weekend volunteer gang from AmeriCorps (volunteering away from their assigned projects) and the Friday night dancers with ranger Stan Fowler after levelling the roof by using the screw jacks attached to the top of each scaffold tower. A laser levelling device was used to get the levels correct. The project exposes volunteers to training in all kinds of new skills.
Now that the roof was safely supported, the columns could be investigated. Here is the bottom of one of them showing the termite damage. This one was relatively sound compared to some of the others.

A soft brush soon cleared the dirt away from this one!

Volunteers from a local temple are removing accumulated debris from under the floor so that a larger floor area could be inspected. Outside the pavilion other members of the group are digging the tarmac and dirt away from the sides.

"Whitman Day" is when the local high school provides volunteers for projects at the park. Seniors are excavating at the east side of the building for concrete foundations. The old columns have been removed.

The west side of the building with all the columns removed.

"Another fine mess you've got me in, Stanley".
Deborah in a hole, digging for the column foundations.

At the west side, the old cement block foundations had to be removed to allow the deeper foundations now required. Here a chain has been wrapped round the old cement block and is being attached to "Ralph" the fork lift truck.
A healthy respect for all devices mechanical and electrical is important for safety while working. Another skill that is useful is being aware of what others in the team around you are doing and if they need, but are not asking for, help.

The pressure treated lumber (8" x 8") for eighteen new columns has been acquired and was laid out so that it could dry out further and then be sanded and shaped to match the original columns.

After the ends have been trimmed the pieces could be graded according to industry standard grading tables. The best quality (strongest) ones will be used for the corner columns

All tucked in for the night. With the excavations all done for the foundations it was necessary to protect them from the Washington summer thunder storms. This was done after pumping rainwater out the holes a couple of times. One soon learns!

The investigations are now about complete. A number of generous financial donations have been received. (More are always welcome and will be needed before the project is finished.) The paperwork is being done and we are all ready to start the work of restoring the structure.
We hope to see more people coming to help us. It is a fun project, sometimes hard work - but you see something taking shape around you - and that is satisfying.
The result should be a building that can be used for many different functions for many years to come.

Offers of help (time, money, materials, etc) please to:

Email - stan.fowler@tcs.wap.org.
Phone: 301-492-6229

Back to Glen Echo Park homepage

Bumper Car Pavilion history

This page documents some of the activities undertaken in the investigative stage of re-habilitating the Glen Echo Park Bumper Car Pavilion. As a designated historic structure it has many interesting architectural features which should be preserved. From a practical standpoint it will provide a valuable outdoor pavilion for classes, dance, concerts, festivals, picnics, and the like as it used to be before being closed for safety reasons. In February 1997 a group of volunteers under the guidance of National Park Service ranger Stan Fowler started work to investigate how far deterioration of the structure had gone. Work was also planned to stabilize the structure so that no more damage would take place due to moisture and termites. You can click on any of the small pictures below to get a larger view.
	Measurements on the pavilion have been translated into a Computer Assisted Design (CAD) showing the contours of the floor, the underside of the roof trusses, and the main chords. The chart shows the amount that various parts of the pavilion had sunk towards the ground. It will also make a great quilt design!
	CAD drawing of the roof trusses and floor contours. When CAD is used it is possible to do 'what if' simulations to see the effect on the whole of moving one piece!
	Here is the source of much of the trouble with the structural timbers - the termite. The termite cannot thrive without moisture. The tarmac that had been used to carefully seal the edge of the pavilion to protect it actually provided termite 'heaven' by preventing the moisture that did get in from getting out again.. You get a lot of termites for a penny.
	Investigations started with the floor. When it was used for Bumper Cars the floor was covered in steel plates to conduct the electricity. The steel plates were all screwed to the wooden underfloor and welded to each other at their corners. Removal of the plates was not going to be easy. This one has rusted along the edge where water has blown in from the outside.
	Once a plate had been removed the wooden underfloor could be seen. Near the corners of the building, where rain has got in and not been able to dry out under the plates, a significant amount of rot has taken place. The measuring rule that appears in many of these pictures is used to show the relative size of parts of the building. All material removed has been carefully logged since this is a designated historic building.
	At another corner the floor rot was also bad. The joists underneath had mainly survived.
	Once the damaged wood, nails, dirt, and other trash has been removed the extent of the damage can be assessed. So far the damage to the floor has been encouragingly small in the parts that have been exposed. There is still quite a lot of steel plate to be removed.
	This work does not happen by magic! Teams of volunteers come to the park most weekends to work. Here is an early gang of Friday Night Dancers clearing rotton flooring and joists so that some of the damage can be recorded.
	After clearing out the damaged flooring the next step was to investigate the supporting columns. There are 9 of these down each of the long sides. The damage to the bottom of these by moisture and termites was what had caused the building to sag. In order to work on the columns the roof had to be supported by scaffolding. Local construction company, Miller and Long, donated the loan of scaffolding for the project and this picture shows the first stage of this being erected. It is standing firmly on the area cleared earlier in the project.
	This view for the outside looking in shows the scaffold ready for jacking up the roof trusses.
	Here is a weekend volunteer gang from AmeriCorps (volunteering away from their assigned projects) and the Friday night dancers with ranger Stan Fowler after levelling the roof by using the screw jacks attached to the top of each scaffold tower. A laser levelling device was used to get the levels correct. The project exposes volunteers to training in all kinds of new skills.
	Now that the roof was safely supported, the columns could be investigated. Here is the bottom of one of them showing the termite damage. This one was relatively sound compared to some of the others.
	A soft brush soon cleared the dirt away from this one!
	Volunteers from a local temple are removing accumulated debris from under the floor so that a larger floor area could be inspected. Outside the pavilion other members of the group are digging the tarmac and dirt away from the sides.
	"Whitman Day" is when the local high school provides volunteers for projects at the park. Seniors are excavating at the east side of the building for concrete foundations. The old columns have been removed.
	The west side of the building with all the columns removed.
	"Another fine mess you've got me in, Stanley". Deborah in a hole, digging for the column foundations.
	At the west side, the old cement block foundations had to be removed to allow the deeper foundations now required. Here a chain has been wrapped round the old cement block and is being attached to "Ralph" the fork lift truck. A healthy respect for all devices mechanical and electrical is important for safety while working. Another skill that is useful is being aware of what others in the team around you are doing and if they need, but are not asking for, help.
	The pressure treated lumber (8" x 8") for eighteen new columns has been acquired and was laid out so that it could dry out further and then be sanded and shaped to match the original columns.
	After the ends have been trimmed the pieces could be graded according to industry standard grading tables. The best quality (strongest) ones will be used for the corner columns
	All tucked in for the night. With the excavations all done for the foundations it was necessary to protect them from the Washington summer thunder storms. This was done after pumping rainwater out the holes a couple of times. One soon learns!
The investigations are now about complete. A number of generous financial donations have been received. (More are always welcome and will be needed before the project is finished.) The paperwork is being done and we are all ready to start the work of restoring the structure. We hope to see more people coming to help us. It is a fun project, sometimes hard work - but you see something taking shape around you - and that is satisfying. The result should be a building that can be used for many different functions for many years to come.
Offers of help (time, money, materials, etc) please to: Email - stan.fowler@tcs.wap.org. Phone: 301-492-6229