Center Meeting House

Why are the windows of the Center Meeting House boarded up?

This is a valid question to ask and one that is brought up to the CMH board on a regular basis.  When the interior plaster was removed to get a better view of the structure to answer the question of why the roof sagged, it was discovered that decades of roof leaks had rotted the three trusses that we all saw getting replaced and this allowed them to crack.  The columns on this side of the builded were rotted as were the clapboards.  What you see in photo to the right are new clapboards and behind the boards covering the windows are the restored and renewed windows.

During the Historic Home Tour this summer, the boards on the opposite side of the building were removed so that tour-goers could look inside the building and see the interior.  Inside the building, one can see apple green paint that some believe to be the original paint and it is our hope that it can be gently cleaned and restored.  Until we can get the shutters and the blinds installed, we need to protect this paint from the sun.  The photo to the right shows clapboards that are not yet renewed with windows that have been restored in the top half and renewed in the bottom half. As has been our problem throughout this project, the bottom half of the windows suffered from leakage followed by rotting of the wood and even more leaking.

A similar situation has happened with the Bell Tower.  Now that it is being looked at closely, it requires more restoration than had been visualized.  The current expectation is that it will still be completed before December 1.  You might want to make plans to come out for the Newbury Beautification Committee's Tree Lighting on December 6.  Check out the Upcoming Events section of this web site.

We might even ring the newly installed 1860 bell for the first time since 2001.