The Long Branch Historical Museum Association 2006-2007

New Roof Installed; Tower and Structural Framing Repaired

-- Funding is needed to complete the exterior restoration --

The Church of the Presidents recently underwent major renovations, totaling approximately $620,000, to restore the building to its former glory, and to ensure the site is preserved for future generations.

A new cedar shake roof was installed on the building, and a new EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) roof -- a rubber material used on low-slope roofs – was installed on the building’s imposing crenellated tower. Both the wood framing of the building and the tower have been reinforced.

For the building itself, framing reinforcement entailed replacing studs, sills, and rafter plates where needed, and installing plywood over them on the interior to provide additional stiffness and to resist lateral (sideways) movement (see photo lower left).

For the tower, reinforcement included the installation of six-by-six-foot posts to support the tower roof trusses, new exterior sheathing and metalwork around the top of parapet, and replication (in Spanish mahogany) of the missing or damaged decorative quatrefoils around the outside perimeter of the parapet.

The new roofing and rain gutters were installed with grant funding provided by the New Jersey Historic Trust, and a grant from the Save America’s Treasures program administered by the National Park Service, the latter of which was obtained via the efforts of New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. The Monmouth County Historical Commission also provided a grant towards the rain gutter installation.

Increases in construction costs, and unforeseen repairs required by the tower, prohibited these grants, totaling more than $445,000, from covering the cost of restoring the entire exterior of the building.

The Long Branch Historical Museum Association (LBHMA) is in need of funding to repair the masonry foundation of the building and to paint the exterior in its original 1879 colors.

The exterior restoration comprises Phase II of a four-phase preservation plan that includes infrastructure repairs and upgrades that must be completed before the site can be re-opened to the public. A $250,000 stabilization project (Phase I) was completed in 2003, saving the structure from impending collapse.