It’s stood sentinel on Westbrook’s Main Street for parts of three centuries, and while the city has grown and changed around it, the original Walker Memorial Library building has remained a constant.

But time and the elements have taken a toll on the building, which opened in 1894, and on the heels of a complete renovation of the newer section of the library, built in 1989, the staff and the library board’s attention turned to preserving and saving the historic building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

And on Saturday, April 14, at 11 a.m., the library will mark the completion of the first phase of that work as it holds a dedication to celebrate the restoration of the building’s exterior.

The hard work put forth in cleaning and preserving the building is quickly evident from a glance from Main Street. The building’s original granite steps have been restored and reinstalled, the copper work on the roof gleams like new and a boulder with a plaque acknowledging the library’s place on the National Register of Historic Places has been moved from the side of the building to a prominent spot right in front of the stairs.

Fran Jensen, a library trustee who has been on the board since 1979, said it was important to protect and preserve the building, because doing so would protect a piece of the city’s heritage – something that was largely destroyed by urban renewal.

“It’s one of the last historic buildings that hasn’t been torn down in Westbrook or hasn’t been moved from its original location,” Jensen said. “There’s hardly anything (historic) left. This is our only chance to preserve one of the last historic buildings for the city.”

The renovations to the building go much deeper than just cleaning the outside of the building.

“The building had been leaking for many years,” said Curt Sachs, the project’s architect. “The older part, built in 1894, suffered the most. We had to restore the masonry and we dug a trench all around the perimeter of the old building to create a drainage system.”

The city approved $685,000 for the project, with $85,000 of that money coming from a grant from Efficiency Maine. Sachs said that they have spent about $400,000 so far on the restoration project, with the rest being applied to a new state-of-the-art HVAC system and a new boiler, which will be purchased with the Efficiency Maine money.

The restoration and repair also included getting rid of mold in the lower part of the building, which will be used for support staff office space once the inside work is completed.

The work was an absolute necessity, Sachs said.

“It would have eventually caved in,” he said. “They would have lost the building. Had (the problems) not been taken care of in the next couple of years, they would have had so much damage (it couldn’t have been fixed).”

The first phase of the restoration project began about a year ago as crews worked to make the building weather tight. Sachs said workers removed the original slate roof and installed a new waterproof membrane, and inspected all of the wood decking on the roof. He added that they caught a break because the roof’s wood decking was in good shape and crews then reinstalled the original slate tiles on the roof.

But there was still more work to be done on the roof.

“In conjunction with putting the slate back up, the original copper finials and flashing (needed to be repaired),” Sachs said.

While workers tried to restore as much of the original copper work as they could, Sachs said that in some cases, the damage was too extensive to save the piece, adding that “several” of the copper finials on top of the roof needed to be replaced with replicas.

While the building is listed on the National Register, Sachs said that there were no restrictions placed on the project because no federal money was used.

“If you use federal dollars on a National Registry building, then they have some purview (to what is done to the building),” he said.

But even with no limitations, Sachs said, the project was done with an eye on preserving the historic character of the building.

“Everything that was done was in accordance with the National Parks Service preservation briefs,” he said, adding that he consulted with the state historic preservation office during the project.

While the exterior of the building has been finished, the historic interior remains closed to the public as it awaits its own restoration. Library Director Karen Valley said it is necessary to keep that part of the building, which includes the gathering room and the local history room, closed because it is being used as staff office space while the interior renovations continue. But, Valley said the staff would still allow the public to access the local history room.

“We take people there by appointment,” she said.

Valley added that the intent is to completely reopen that space to the public.

“Once the heating system is put in and the rest of the downstairs is restored, then we will re-occupy for support services the first floor of the historic building,” she said. “(Then) we’ll reopen the local history room and we’d like to make our gathering room a reading room open to the public. We want to make it as comfortable and welcoming (as possible).”

In addition to serving as a celebration for the completion of the exterior work, the event on Saturday will also serve as the kickoff for the effort to raise money for the repair and restoration of the inside of the building. Jensen said the plan is to get all of the work done and have the space reopened to the public by 2014, which will coincide with both the city’s 200th birthday and the 120th anniversary of the Walker Memorial Library.

But while there is still work to be done on the inside of the building, Jensen and the library staff know that with a freshly restored exterior, the city can once again be proud of its historic library.

“I feel like everybody’s done such a great job,” Jensen said. “I am extremely happy with the outside. This is the first time in my memory that it’s been done to perfection.”

“I think both as the library director and a resident, I’m very proud of the outcome of the outside of the building,” Valley added. “It’s beautiful. The copper was a really wonderful added touch that helps us really enjoy the outside of the building.”

Assistant Library Director Marian Peterson summed up her feelings simply.

“They’ve done a beautiful job,” she said. “We want the citizens to be proud of this building, because it really shines.”

Now that a major renovation of the Walker Memorial Library exterior is completed, officials, including architect Curt Sachs, Library Director Karen Allen and trustee Fran Fritzche-Jensen, are excited to be moving ahead with interior work. They are standing by the relocated boulder with a plaque acknowledging the library’s place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Architect Curt Sachs, who headed up the Walker Library renovation project, shows some of the brickwork that was completely re-pointed.