[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[MonctonRad]

from today's T&T

(Free Meeting House) renovated
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Times & Transcript
By: James Foster

Moncton's Free Meeting House will soon be available again to community

Moncton's 1821 Free Meeting House is looking its age again - in a good way - after undergoing its most significant renovation in more than two decades.

As anyone might imagine, restoring a house that is almost 200 years old presents a unique set of challenges. Those challenges were multiplied in this case thanks to the house's unique purpose, to serve all denominations for their religious services, meaning the structure incorporates certain aspects that were not typical for the era in which it was built.

'When these different religious groups used it, they would use it for sometimes weeks, sometimes months and sometimes years,' City of Moncton heritage and culture co-ordinator Lawren Campbell explains.

'And sometimes each would configure it in their own way.' So it wasn't as if Rice Contracting Ltd., which carried out the $140,000 project, could simply copy from a similar renovation project.

The house was extensively renovated back in 1990 when Moncton residents Lloyd and Brenda Parsons led the charge to bring the house back as close as possible to its original state. Their efforts succeeded, with the restoration being the main element in why the building was deemed a National Historic Site shortly thereafter. This most recent renovation was aimed at restoring it to the condition it was in back in 1990 and it is an understatement to say that Campbell is pleased about the success, from the contractors milling the wood used in the renovation so that it mimics the original wood, to Rice's efforts to meticulously match the bright yellow paint that distinguishes the building.

The project was funded by the city, province and, hopefully, the federal government though word on a grant from them has yet to be received. It required extensive study before getting underway and the work is true to the building's origins, from its new cedar roof to its newly repaired floor joists and support beams.

It also includes some innovative ideas for helping to keep the building safer from the elements, for example, eavestroughing to steer water away from the building that wasn't on the original house. They could have used modern eavestroughing, but Rice took pains to carve gutters out of cedar, and also attached them in such a way that they can be easily removed at any time without affecting the building or its ancient look.

Of course, any time you fix sagging floor joists, the building shifts and almost always the plastering cracks, so meticulous care was taken to restore even that aspect of the building to its original look, all researched beforehand to ensure the highest degree of accuracy possible.

As well, those inappropriate plastic-like coverings over the windows have been removed and the glass windows are back.

'It's as close to that 1990s restoration as the building has been in subsequent years,' Campbell says.

'There is nothing inappropriate in anything that has been done. It has been done far beyond our expectations. They really took that project to heart.' The Free Meeting House is one of Moncton's oldest standing public buildings, built in the style of a New England Meeting House without steeple, bell or cornerstone. Its purpose was to serve as a home for all religious denominations until such time as individual groups could raise the money required to build their own churches.

The south and rear of the site became a burial ground. The oldest stone, that of John Charters, is dated 1816. The most recent is dated 1876, being that of an infant, Merril Brown.

In 1964, Moncton city council took over the title of the building and carried out the repairs. The Free Meeting House was rededicated as a memorial to early settlers in 1966.

Campbell noted that when the new Transportation Discovery Centre and renovated Moncton Museum reopen in October, that entire city block along Mountain Road in the city's east end will be a focal point for the city's culture and history.

The Free Meeting House is not just a monument to the past but is often used as a venue of distinction for weddings and meetings. Rentals will resume in early June.