MacLeod Consulting, Inc.

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Memorial Hall

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Monson, Massachusetts repairs historic Town Hall

Memorial Hall

September 17, 2001The Monson Memorial Hall is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as a property of local significance. Constructed as a town hall in 1884 to honor the Town’s Civil War soldiers, this building was designed by architect George E. Potter using granite from Monson’s Flynt quarries. The Flynt Building and Construction Company constructed the building and contributed funds, and the Reynolds family whose wealth came from woolen mills in town was the principal contributor donating both land and money.

In March of 1998, hundreds of pounds of stone facing fell off the west face of the North Tower crushing the granite entry steps below. The Town hired MacLeod Consulting to assess the condition of the tower. Open masonry joints, failed roofing, and windows were admitting water into the masonry. During freezing weather, trapped water in the joints expanded and pushed stones and bricks apart. Water absorbed in the brick expanded and broke the units into pieces. This process of deterioration continued until partial collapse made the problems obvious.

MacLeod Consulting prepared a design to repair masonry, slate, windows, and floor framing in the tower. Chapman Waterproofing, a Boston based masonry contractor, completed $325,000 of repairs by the end of November 1998. The Town received help with emergency funding from the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Sara Chase, an Architectural Conservator from Lexington, identified original paint colors used in the exterior.

Update: In 2000, MacLeod Consulting helped the Town to prepare a Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) grant to repair the main roof. The Town won funding for this work from the MHC. MacLeod Consulting prepared construction documents for repairs scheduled for the year 2001. Work included replacing broken and mismatch shingles from earlier repairs, replacement of copper flashing and gutters, replication of terra cotta ridge crests, and the restoration of the painted wood shingle rear wall. 

Crocker Architectural, a restoration roofing contractor, completed repairs in November 2001. The  slideshow below shows pictures taken during construction repairs.

These pictures were taken before, during, and after construction repairs. They show work done in the tower and the roof, two separate contracts. Some show materials worn from age and failures from earlier short-term repairs. Others show in-progress or completed repairs. Some of these photographs were provided by Crocker Architectural Sheet Metal Company, the contractor who did the roofing contract. The show is presented in time order of the repair work. Slides change every six seconds taking about four minutes to complete. All are captioned.

Drawings:  The links below will launch your Adobe Reader. Selecting the underlined drawing number of the desired plan will open the drawing in a new web page. When finished viewing the drawing close its page to return to the host page. Most computers have the Adobe Reader already installed. If the Reader does not start, you may have to download and install the latest reader from www.adobe.com. 
MEMORIAL HALL MONSON DRAWINGS
S-1 Tower Repair Cover Sheet
S-2 Tower Elevations
S-3Tower Site Plan, Stairs, and Floor Framing
S-4Tower Details
R-1 Roof Repairs Cover Sheet 
R-2 Roof Plan
R-3 Details

For More Information Contact:

 MacLeod Consulting, Inc.
29 Woods Road
Belmont, MA 02478-3805

Tel: 617-484-4733