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Office of the Secretary
July 24, 2008

Contact: Shane Wolfe
202-208-6416
Sean Hennessey
617-242-5616

MEDIA ADVISORY

Secretary Kempthorne and Director Bomar to Visit Boston’s Old State House to Mark Completion of Vital Preservation Work

BOSTON – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and National Park Service Director Mary Bomar on Friday, July 25 will visit Boston’s Old State House to mark the completion of the initial phase of the restoration of the Old State House. This vital preservation work, which represents the first completed construction project of the National Park Service Centennial Initiative, brings to a close the structural stabilization phase of the Society’s master plan for the Old State House.

The National Park Centennial Initiative is a 10-year program to reinvigorate America’s national parks for a second century of conservation, preservation and enjoyment. The National Park Service will mark its centennial on August 25, 2016. Congress this year, in response to the President’s Centennial Challenge, appropriated $24.6 million to be matched by donations for Centennial Challenge programs and projects.

Who: Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne
National Park Service Director Mary Bomar
Terry Savage, Superintendent, Boston National Historical Park
Brian LeMay, Executive Director, Bostonian Society
James W. Hunt III, Boston Chief of Environmental and Energy Services
What: Completion of initial phase of restoration of Old State House
When: Friday, July 25, 11:00 a.m.
Where:

Plaza outside the Old State House
Corner of State and Washington Streets
Downtown Boston

Note: The goal of the project was to finish sealing the building against water penetration, which recently has caused substantial damage throughout this 300-year-old structure.  (An earlier project stabilized the northeast corner in 2006.)  Over the past several months, the Society has restored the building’s tower —a much-photographed symbol of Boston—restored masonry in several locations, and repaired or replaced damaged window frames.
The dome and weathervane atop the tower were re-gilded, restoring them to their 18th-century splendor.  Inside, the climate control system has been upgraded and modernized to make it operationally efficient and provide a stable environment for the valuable collections housed in the building.

 

 
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