A groundbreaking ceremony next week will kick off work at one Auburn museum.
The Seward House Museum will hold a public ceremony to officially start work on restoring and rehabilitating the carriage house and barn attached to the museum’s property.
Speaking with Finger Lakes News Radio, Mitchell Maniccia, the Director of Operations at the museum, said the work being done will be substantial.
“The work on the barn and carriage house is pretty substantial, structural repairs to the barn since it’s on the verge of collapse almost. So we’re looking forward to saving it from structural failure through some pretty heavy structural repair and preservation work,” Maniccia explained.
He added that, once work is complete the space will serve a multitude of roles for the museum.
“And then both buildings will receive top-to-bottom rehabilitation… so all the historic elements will remain intact and be updated to accommodate museum use as a carriage display, staff offices, multi-use space, storage, and [a] maintenance shop,” Maniccia continued.
The stone barn and carriage house were designed by William H Seward’s son Frederick and constructed in 1860 after the original structures were burnt down in an arson incident while Seward was running for president.
The public is invited to attend the groundbreaking at 11:00a on Wednesday, October 25.
Planning for the project began in 2007 when a Historic Structures Report recommended the buildings be utilized for usable space for museum-goers.
“As a facilities masterplan and multiple strategic plans were fleshed out It became more and more clear that we really needed to salvage these buildings and make them useful for museum use,” Maniccia said.
Funding for the $2.8 million project comes from the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, a Program of the NYS Housing Trust Fund Corporation Environmental Protection Fund; the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation; and a grant from Save America’s Treasures Historic Preservation Fund of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, as well as by private funding.
The work is being done by contractor LeChase Construction Services and architect Jack Alvarez of Landmark Consulting. The project consists of interior and exterior work on the structures as well as landscaping.
Weather permitting, outside utility work will be done until the winter; once winter weather hits, inside work will be done, and outdoor work will resume in the spring.
“They’re going to be great spaces for the public and museum to use,” Maniccia said. “The sequencing for visitors onto our site will be expanded and enhanced so it will feel like a historic site campus when this project is done.”
Work is expected to be completed by late summer of 2024.
