04/24/09
Commission advises against maintenance of current Goddard Mansion
The Fort Williams Advisory Commission is recommending that the town discontinue efforts to sustain the Goddard Mansion ruin as it now stands.
In a report received by the Town Council April 13, commissioners are asking for short-term funding to assure the safety of the visitors to the structure while longer-term plans are made to dismantle much of the former Civil War colonel's homestead.
The commission is asking that $6,000 be appropriated from the park's capital fund balance to fence off areas surrounding the carriage house and connecting walls to protect the public, and that ongoing deterioration of the existing walls be allowed to continue.
"At the February 2008 meeting of the commission, we voted unanimously not to pursue a program which would entail repairing and maintaining the Goddard ruins as they are," says a March 24 memo from the Fort Williams Advisory Commission to the council.
The report confirms a vote taken in December 2006 where commissioners decided that no more money should be spent to preserve the mansion as a ruin, but to explore other alternatives. At that time the structure was considered stable and removed from the top of the commission's list of Fort Williams priorities.
The Town Council voted April 13 to accept the commission's report for discussion at a future workshop.
The main factors influencing the commission's recommendation, the report says, are the magnitude of initial repair costs, estimated at more than $600,000 according to a consultant's report; the need for ongoing expenditures for maintenance, also estimated at more than $5,000 a year; and, lack of a real use for the building.
"The commission now feels it is time to move forward on the disposition of the mansion, having invested almost $24,000 in consulting fees to study the ruin over the past nine years," the report says.
The most recent study, conducted as part of a broader study of Fort Williams Park projects by Renner/Woodworth Architects, Inc., and funded by a grant from the Fort Williams Charitable Foundation, provided a list of alternatives for the Goddard Mansion ranging from full structural repair, estimated cost $631,000 to complete demolition, estimated cost $65,000.
Renner/Woodworth described several other alternatives, including various degrees of stabilization, installing fencing and installing interpretive signs.
The commission's recommendation for the long-term, to be completed as funds become available, are:
- Reduce the height of all the walls, possibly to seating height or first floor windowsill height, and cap them to minimize ongoing deterioration and maintenance.
- Save the main front entrance, if possible. This will probably require that a bracing system be installed.
- Open the interior of the ruins for public access.
- Grade, loam, and seed the interior for public access and easy maintenance.
- Install interpretive panels to explain the history of the ruins, guide people through the floor plan, etc.
"Although this was not a specific option explored with Renner/Woodworth, we have used cost data from the other options to estimate that this plan would cost on the order of $100,000," the commission's report says.
The commission is asking for the short-term fencing to be installed this spring in time for this year's visitors.
The fate of the Goddard Mansion is also a goal of the Town Council this year.
The Goddard Mansion was constructed in 1853 by John Goddard, later colonel of the First Maine Cavalry, with 2-feet thick stone masonry walls, and a roof and interior walls made of wood.
The mansion later became part of Fort Williams and was used to house non-commissioned officers. It became the property of the Town of Cape Elizabeth with the purchase of Fort Williams in 1964. In 1981, deterioration and vandalism led the town's Fire Department to conduct a controlled burn of the structure, and the basement was filled to allow visitors to access what remained of the building.
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