Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
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Source: January 1990 Volume 28 Number 1, Pages 31–34


Restoring the Building

William E. Riggs

Page 31

In the spring of 1985 it became certain that the old Library building was scheduled for demolition in the very near future. The Session of the Paoli Presbyterian Church commissioned me to look into the possibility of moving the building to the Church property on South Valley Road.

Investigations were commenced in mid-1985; estimates of the cost for moving the building were obtained, as well as estimates of the cost for taking down and re-erecting the various public utility service lines along the route of the move. Feasible routes were surveyed to select the most practical route. The most direct route -- down Route 252 to Waynesborough Road and then west to the Church property - could not be used without removal of large trees and an existing decorative fence at the Waynesborough mansion, so other, less direct, routes were studied.

A special exception was required to place the structure on the Church property. It was applied for and, after hearing, was granted by the Willistown Zoning Hearing Board. Tredyffrin Township solicited bids for the building, with the proviso that it must be moved from its present site or demolished on or before April 13, 1986.

It being noted that the Paoli Presbyterian Church had recently constructed and occupied a new Sanctuary and was burdened with a new and substantial financial obligation, the Session nevertheless, by Resolution dated March 25, 1986, formed a "Heritage Committee" and gave conditional authorization to purchase the building and move it to the Church premises:

Page 32

"RESOLVED that the building that first housed our congregation, presently located at 18 Darby Road, Paoli, be purchased by the Church for the sum of $1,200 and that the said building be moved from the present location to our church premises in Willistown Township; provided that the Church, Session and Congregation of the Paoli Presbyterian Church shall not assume any financial obligation for such procurement, removal, installation and/or maintenance of said building; it being the intention that such expense will be paid from a fund raised by public subscription and administered by the Church, to be designated the 'Chapel/Library Fund', FURTHER RESOLVED that the officers of the church are hereby authorized to enter into such obligations as may be necessary to carry out the procurement, removal, installation and erection of said building subject only to the availability of funds in the 'Chapel/Library Fund'."

The committee of six members appointed by Session included Bruce Field, Charles Moore, William Myers, Stuart Whitla, J. Anderson Wilson, and William Riggs, Chairman.

A bid was prepared and submitted to the Supervisors of Tredyffrin Township, and the building was purchased for the sum of $1200.

The building was moved on the 14th day of April 1986, a beautiful warm spring day. [Note 1] It turned out to be a substantial media event, and was well attended throughout the entire route by members of both the press and TV. Three townships were transversed, and the line of march was attended by hundreds of interested citizens and school children as well. The route selected went east on Lancaster Avenue to Route 252, south to Darby-Paoli Road, northwest to Devon Road, west to South Valley Road, and thence south to the Church premises.

The move got underway at about 9:00 a.m. and went along without incident until, within sight of the destination, overhanging branches were encountered. A delay of several hours ensued, with the building in place by mid-afternoon -- with no damage, save one broken storm window!

The cooperation of the police departments of Tredyffrin, Easttown, and Willistown townships, along with the efficient services of Bell of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Electric Co., and Harron Cable TV Co. were greatly appreciated.

Mindful of the financial strictures contained in the authorizing resolution of Session, the Committee arranged financing through Meridian Bank in the amount of $50,000. This financing was secured by the personal guarantee of a number of interested benefactors; fortunately, it has not been necessary to draw upon this financing, and the project remains unencumbered. The community at large has been the principal source of income.

Page 33

Several gifts in kind should be mentioned. Of significant importance were gifts of an air-conditioning and heating system, a gift of nearly 100 gallons of paint (all of which has been applied), and a very substantial gift of shrubbery and plantings.

It was the aim of the committee to restore the building to the original condition that it was in in the Spring of 1893 when it first housed the "Sabbath School in Paoli". A photograph of the interior was found and has been of great assistance.

Once the building was lowered onto its new foundation, the first order of business was to protect it with a good paint job. The removal of the old paint and preparation for painting occupied most of the summer of 1986. Many coats of different colors were removed by grinding, scraping, and sanding, all well lubricated with volunteer human sweat. The onset of cooler weather spurred completion of the preparation, and the final outside coat of paint was applied in October.

Cold weather drove our band of volunteers indoors, and our attention now turned to reworking windows and doors, rewiring, the installation of a sump pump, and putting in the heating system.

One of the nearly unique features of this old building is its many windows with small panes of glass. There are sixteen windows with forty panes in each, three windows with twenty-four panes in each, and a door with nine panes -- a total of 721 panes in all. Our workers became quite familiar with this number as reglazing and painting progressed!

The interior walls were found to be of old-fashioned plaster and lath construction. Great damage had been done to the walls in tearing out the library book shelves that had been nailed to the walls. The worst of this damage was repaired by a plastering contractor -- one of the few paid contractors in the entire project. The interior was painted when the plastering was completed.

The remaining job was the floor. Scrapers, hoes, shovels and buckets of elbow grease were used to remove four different old floor coverings of linoleum and tile, and at last we came to the original tongue-and-groove pine flooring. The old floor was repaired and patched where the former heat grilles had been located, and, after the removal of many nails and several machine sandings, the floor was finished with several coats of gymnasium-quality varnish.

During installation of the new wiring it was discovered that the platform, or dais, at the rear of the building had been a later addition and that the original platform, some twelve or fourteen inches lower, was still in place. The addition was removed and the original platform exposed and refinished.

Two of the old chairs used in the Chapel, as shown in the photograph, we relocated, through the efforts of Mrs. Alma Funkhouser, and have been donated to the Chapel. They are now being repaired for use in the building. Our many efforts to locate the original lectern or pulpit, however, have not been successful.

Page 34

Ten deacon benches were built to our design, each eight feet long, and delivery was made to us in time for the Christmas Service in December 1988. A substantial gift from the Paoli Library Association, through Paoli's Heritage Foundation, was more than sufficient to defray their expense.

Thus an historical edifice has been acquired and rehabilitated. It is hoped that the "Chapel-Library" will serve as a focal point of interest for those of our community who cherish the past as a prologue to what we will become.

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References

For the article on the Sabbath School and Paoli Presbyterian Church:

Linn, J. S. [dictated by Edwin B. Linn] : History of the Sabbath School and First Presbyterian Church, Paoli, Pa. Original at the Presbyterian Society, Philadelphia, Pa.

McCann, Horace : The First Presbyterian Church, Paoli. Tredyffrin Easttown History Club Quarterly, Volume VII, Number 2, p. 21

Prime, Phoebe P. : History of the Church of the Good Samaritan. Tredyffrin Easttown History Club Quarterly, Volume IX, Number 3, p. 64

Fry, Barbara : The Sabbath School at Paoli. Tredyffrin Easttown History Club Quarterly, Volume XXIV, Number 2, p. 55

Frederick, Richard : A Return to its Roots for the Paoli Library. In Daily Local News, March 4, 1986

Session Minutes of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Volumes II and III. Archives of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Berwyn, Pa.

For the article on the Paoli Library:

Wheeler, Irene [compiler] : Down Memory Lane - The Paoli Library 1910 - 1985. Published by The Paoli Library Association 1985

Records of the Paoli Library

For the article on Restoring the Building

Session Minutes of Paoli Presbyterian Church

Personal recollections of the author

1. See Tredyffrin Easttown History Club Quarterly. July 1986 [Vol. XXIV, No. 3]

 
 

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