Historic Rockaway Borough Library building undergoes inspection
The Rockaway Borough Public Library recently had its nogging checked.
The 200-year-old building, originally built as a mansion for the Jackson family in 1829, underwent a structural assessment by a team brought in by the Library Board, under the auspices of the Morris County grant, according Joyce Kanigel of the Rockaway Borough Historical Committee.
On hand to conduct part of the assessment were preservation architects, Margaret Hickey and Thomas Connolly, with Connolly & Hickey Historical Architects, based in Cranford, and structural engineer, James Huffman.
"The Board chose this firm because C&H have done excellent work for other public libraries in our area that are housed in historic structures," said Kanigel citing the Boonton Holmes Public Library and the Hibernia Branch of the Rockaway Township Public Library.
The building's structural assessment was also made possible via a grant given to Rockaway Borough from the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust.
"In early 2013 [Rockaway Borough] put in an application to the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust Fund and in late June received a grant award of $23,880 for the purpose of preservation planning. This grant pays for a preservation architect and consulting team to study the site," said Kanigel.
Kanigel explained that the assessment was "just one part of the study done by the preservation consulting team. Other important areas that the team looks into are the history of the site, and its architectural style or styles (early American architecture often was a mix of styles)."
That is where the nogging comes in. Structurally, the Rockaway Borough Library’s framing involves the method where brickwork is used to fill in the open spaces between studs or framing.
"Nogging was an old way of insulating wood frame houses," said Kanigel. "We don't know [how rare this is] … this is a topic we hope our historical architects might address in their report. We do know that nogging goes back to Elizabethan times in Britain, and that it was sometimes used in American architecture from the late 1700s up until about 1900."
The Rockaway Borough Library has been listed with the National Register of Historic Place since 1975. The home was acquired by the borough in 1939, by bequest of Marie Foster, on condition the property always be used as public library or museum.
Kanigel explained that since the library is with the National Register, it must be cared for according to the standards of the U.S. Secretary of Interior.
"This means that repairs must be made with materials that are as similar as possible to the materials used in the site's original construction," she explained giving the exampled that it the windows needed to be replaced, "we would not be allowed to replace wood-framed windows with vinyl-framed windows."
Helping with the maintenance is the Borough Public Works Department and local contractors.
But many aspects of caring for an old wooden mansion are like the ordinary maintenance that homeowners do all the time, she continued. "If they have a wood-sided home, every few years the siding will need scraping and painting, and some trim might need to be repaired or replaced."
But like most materials, they eventually reach the end of the lifespan and need to be replaced completely, such as the old clapboards which according to Kanigel aren’t holding paint well anymore.
Part of the job of the historical architects and this recent assessment is to present the borough with recommendation on how to tackle the current issues.
The first draft of Connolly & Hickey's report has been delivered, but a full reading is yet to be completed at the time Neighbor News spoke with Kanigel, but she did share that the structural engineer, while on-site, noted that the slate roof has been maintained well and keeping out leaks, essential for the whole structure.
"We are lucky to have a slate roof [as] slate shingles are famous for their durability," she noted.
The Library Board contracts with a local roofer who specializes in slate to take care of the library's roof.
Kanigel also noted that assessing the library’s physical structure has been done before.
"Back in the late 1970s it became apparent that structural stabilization might be needed — the mansion had certainly been sturdy enough to hold the Jackson family and their eight children, but it wasn't originally intended to be filled with tons of books!" she said.