How the COVID-19 Pandemic Transformed Preservation Work

In March 2020, our lives changed forever. Businesses ground to a halt, schools shut their doors, and people across the country struggled to understand and adapt. Daily operations at the Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) also changed drastically.

HPTC preservation specialist crews deployed to national park sites across the country were forced to stop mid-project and secure historic sites under their care as best they could before returning home to Frederick, MD. For months, crews planned and prepared, ready to return to the incredible sites desperately in need of their historic preservation skills.After months of careful consideration and a lot of planning with the HPTC safety officer, some crews were able to return to the field, but forever, their work had transformed. New policies were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These included:

• Wearing cloth or surgical masks at all times (unless the work required more intensive breathing PPE),
• Practicing social distancing of 6 feet whenever possible
• Limiting sharing of hand tools and other items
• Conducting disinfection of high touch areas (doorknobs, light switches, tools) multiple times a day, and
• Building and setting up mobile hand-washing stations.

The hand-washing stations had to work in remote locations where access to power and water was limited. These ingenious creations were built out of a rolling tool cabinet, touchless faucet and soap dispenser, bar sink, paper towel dispenser, a battery-operated water pump, and fresh and gray water tanks. Mobile hand-washing stations were distributed to project sites within driving distance of Frederick, MD, allowing crews to return to duty. But some projects were still on hold, especially those that required long-distance travel, such as the work at Christiansted National Historic Site in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cane River Creole in Louisiana, and the Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site in New York.

After months of waiting, plans were put in place to allow crews to return to project sites that were farther away. These plans included regularly testing staff, taking temperatures every morning, limiting travel when on site, and getting workers vaccinated as soon as possible.

Itching to get back to Fort Christianvaern, crews were approved to travel back to the site to continue their work in early October 2020. Immediately, crews picked up right where they left off, repairing the exterior stucco walls, door and window jambs, openings, and other masonry surfaces.

The repairs addressed approximately 2,700 square feet of masonry stucco walls throughout the fort. The traditional lime paint used over the course of the fort’s history was replaced with a potassium silicate paint system. The silicate paint is anticipated to last 10 years; a vast improvement over the lime paint cycle, which was 3-6 months.

The stucco masonry walls of Fort Christianvaern were repaired and repainted to match the original distinct mustard yellow color.

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Over 2,700 square feet of masonry was repaired at the fort

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Crews removed the wood decking of the Oakland Plantation porch because it was rotted and failing

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At the project site at Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Louisiana carpenters removed posts and boards from the gallery deck at the Oakland Plantation. Most of the original supports were rotten and failing. After finishing the support work, the crew installed new porch flooring with random width cypress tongue and groove material.

The finished gallery flooring makes use of cypress tongue-and-groove boards.

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At the Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site, crews from the wood-crafting section worked on repairing the balusters on the north roof. Many of the original balusters showed damage along their base where nails were drive through as part of the original installation. In some cases, those nail holes were rotted by water infiltration. In all but one case, the crews were able to repair and fill the voids with liquid epoxy, putty, and resin. After the repairs were completed and the adhesives dried, the repairs were paired down to the shape and the balusters were staged for priming and painting.

Crews wear masks and maintain social distance while working on the balusters from the Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site.

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At the Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site, crews from the wood-crafting section worked on repairing the balusters on the north roof. Many of the original balusters showed damage along their base where nails were drive through as part of the original installation. In some cases, those nail holes were rotted by water infiltration. In all but one case, the crews were able to repair and fill the voids with liquid epoxy, putty, and resin. After the repairs were completed and the adhesives dried, the repairs were paired down to the shape and the balusters were staged for priming and painting.

Crews primed and painted the balusters after finishing the repairs.

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As the world continues to transform around us, you can be guaranteed the incredible craftsfolk at the Historic Preservation Training Center will continue to transform and preserve the very places that define us as a nation.