Carpenters’ Hall Preservation Project
In April 2022, the Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia embarked on a once-in-a-generation preservation project to fulfill our mission of preserving and maintaining Carpenters’ Hall. The project included preserving the historic masonry, millwork, and windows, maintaining the roof, and waterproofing the foundation of the building.
The historic nature of the building, and the land that it sits on, meant that archeologists from AECOM were on site to unearth and examine any historic materials that were found while excavating the perimeter of the Hall. Archeologists from AECOM identified a total of 65 objects, composed of a mix of ceramics, bone, glass, metal, and shell. Many of the objects likely date to before Carpenters’ Hall existed.
Previous Preservation Projects of Carpenters’ Hall
In its 250-year history, Carpenters’ Hall has only undergone three major preservation efforts. In 1857 the Carpenters’ Company embarked on one of the earliest restoration efforts in American history. The project took place over a span of 19 years and concluded in 1876 for the country’s centennial celebration.
In the 1980 restoration, steel beams were hoisted into the attic, then connected to support second floor trusses. Steel framework — installed in just five days — collected the load and transferred it to the strongest part of the building, the inside four corners.
The next major preservation effort did not take place until 1980. The 1980 project focused on the building’s major structural issues and concentrated primarily on the exterior of the Hall. One of the biggest undertakings was addressing the Hall’s sagging roof and stress cracks apparent in the building’s trusses. During the 1857 restoration project, the Hall’s original cedar shingles were replaced by slate, and then eventually by ceramic tiles: drastically increasing the roof load. In 1980 a system of steel rods and beams, designed by Company member Nick Gianopulos, was painstakingly installed and still helps to transfer the weight of both the roof—and the second-floor library—more evenly throughout the building.
In preparation for the 1980 project, in 1979 Company member and former Chief Historic Architect of Independence National Historical Park, Penelope Batchelor, took students into the Hall to collect pieces of the historic fabric of the building that were otherwise going to be disposed of. The pieces were placed into a time capsule in 1980 to commemorate the preservation project, Carpenters’ Hall, and those who dedicated their time to maintaining it. The box was opened in April 2022, at the start of the most recent preservation effort.
