Fraunces Tavern Museum Façade
Restoration Project: Completed in 2022
before and after Examples of a restored dormer on 54 Pearl Street.
Given the building's historical significance, maintaining its structural integrity is critical to our mission. The project repaired and fortified the most vulnerable and damaged structural elements of the facade including windows, dormers, and masonry of 54 Pearl Street and our adjacent buildings at 58 Pearl Street and 101 Broad Street, thereby safeguarding the Museum’s collections and galleries.
Over the past few years, paint had been chipping off dormers (windows that project vertically from the pitched roof of 54 Pearl Street) and window frames. When the bare wood was exposed to the elements, especially rain and snow, it became porous and slowly began to decay and rot. If left untreated, the windows would have continued to deteriorate and eventually malfunction and break apart. The Society estimated that about 50% of the building’s windows contained rotten wood. Failure to treat rotten wood could have led to more substantial and costly repairs in the future.
Funding for this project was made possible through a Historic Preservation Grant from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, sponsored by the New York City Chapter, NSDAR.
Sponsorship
Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. thanks those members of the public who have alleviated the expenses associated with the Façade Restoration Project by sponsoring a window for $5,000.
