The Alaska Arts Confluence and Port Chilkoot Company are partnering to host a three-day masonry repointing workshop in Haines May 3-5. The event, provided by the Vanishing Treasures Program and National Park Service, will give community members hands-on experience repairing Fort Seward’s burnt-out barracks building foundation as well as background on historic preservation programs throughout the state.
“Repointing” is renewing the outside pieces of mortar joints.
The barracks ruins will soon be home to local art installations as part of the Confluence’s Historic Fort William H. Seward Sculpture Garden project.
Participants will learn to mix mortar, repoint the building’s ashlar foundation, perform basic condition assessments and use the tools and processes required to construct and repoint masonry walls.
“There’s not a whole lot of buildings (in Alaska) with stone foundations like this,” said Grant Crosby, senior historical architect with the National Park Service’s Alaska Regional Office. “A lot of buildings in Alaska are wood or logs. These are actually pretty unique buildings with beautiful stone foundations.”
Crosby and historical preservation mason Sterling Holdorf will lead the workshop. The hands-on work will be augmented with presentations and slideshows about the field of historic preservation and National Historic Landmarks, the highest honor for historic sites in the United States. There are 2,500 National Historic Landmarks in the United States, 49 of which are in Alaska.
Registration for the hands-on portion of the workshop is limited to 15 participants. Others are welcome to sit in on the classroom segments of the seminar. Registration is required. The event is free. Register at http://goo.gl/forms/4N7o09q33B.
