Reconstruction hopes high -
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Published on: 11/3/2001
Last Visited: 8/7/2005
"One of the reasons that (St. George's) was able to be restored was that it was a timber frame," Kimberley Reagan, vice-president, project development for Acorn Timber Frames of Hantsport, said in an interview Friday.
"There was enough structural integrity left to the building, because timbers don't burn as fast as stick construction."
Restoring a building like St. John's Anglican Church in Lunenburg, destroyed by a fire that began Halloween night, would begin by determining the depth the charring extends into the timbers' cores, she said.
"If there is enough core left in any of the timbers, it can be built on," said Ms. Reagan.
At St. George's, commonly called the Round Church, charring extended about 3.3 centimetres into the timber framing.
"The whole front end was completely destroyed and then it went up into the roof," she said."We were able to splice in, add on and reconstruct it."
Acorn Timber Frames' restoration of St. George's won a People's Choice Award in the historical category in 1997 from the Timber Framers Guild of North America.
Ms. Reagan said she would welcome a chance for her company, which has extensive experience in timber framing and restoration, to assist Lunenburg with St. John's Anglican Church, which was built in 1754.
"They have lost a home," she said.
...
Any restoration project would likely uncover artifacts, said Ms. Reagan.
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