PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Mark Weston looks up at his work on the facade of the G.A.R. building on Andrew Street.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — An historic Andrew Street building’s brick front is secure underneath a temporary wood framework until permanent repairs can be made.
Workers bolted beams into the city-owned Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) building’s facade to stop the separation of the building’s inner brick wall and the outer wall.
GAR Curator Robert Matthias said the facade needs pointing and other masonry work he hopes will be done over the next nine months. The temporary framework, installed by Peabody-based Campbell Construction Group, will be inspected by an engineer before Matthias organizes spring school group tours through the building.
“I’d like to make sure it’s absolutely safe,” he said.
Once a meeting place for more than 2,000 Civil War veterans who fought for the North between 1861 and 1865, the Grand Army building became city property in 1919. It evolved into a museum after Civil War veterans held their final meetings in the post in the 1930s.
With rooms filled with Civil War military uniforms, weapons, books and a great hall adorned with photograph portraits of 1,243 members, the building attracts Civil War buffs.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and city councilors allocated $150,000 in 2014 for building improvements, including reconstructing more than 30 window frames and repointing the building’s brick front.
That amount includes money to repair the brick facade. But Matthias said updated estimates will need to be made to take into account unforeseen structural problems. The refurbished windows are being stored on the building’s fourth floor.
Spring is a busy time in the building with public school groups touring the Civil War collection and an annual Civil War encampment planned in May. The week-long event includes Civil War reenactors camping on Lynn Common and history discussions and celebrations planned for local schools, the GAR building and other locations.
The GAR and Lynn Museum collaborated this year on a Civil War history speaker’s series. Additional repair work to protect the building and its collection are planned. Amateur resident historian Larry Campbell said the GAR hall is one of two still open to visitors in the U.S.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at tjourgensen@itemlive.com.