PENDLETON — Sometimes something has to get worse before it can get better, and that might be said of the project to renew the exteriors of five downtown businesses. For weeks, workers have been sanding, scraping and otherwise preparing to give the aging storefronts a complete makeover, a transformation taking place slowly behind scaffolding, safety barriers and other equipment.
The project, made possible by a $500,000 Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs grant, was started this summer and is on track to being completed on time.
“The whole project is supposed to be finished by December,” said Nick Morgan, project superintendent for RenCon Services Inc., the Pendleton company doing the restorations.
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Four buildings on State Street — 101-103 E. (Chambers building, home to Catello’s Mozzarella Bar), 114 W. (Knights of Pythias, home to The Galleria Shops), 119 W.(home to the Pendleton Artists Society), 130 W. (Sarah Welch building, home to Burmeister’s Old Towne Antiques) — and one at 106 N. Pendleton Avenue (home to The Pendleton Shoppe), are receiving the royal treatment.
The work includes restoring the storefronts to their original historic look, removing paint from masonry, replacing some deteriorated materials, along with new caulking and paint.
Morgan said the most interesting thing so far took place at the Pendleton Avenue location, where crews made an unexpected discovery.
After removing a dilapidated overhang above the storefront, they found pillars with ornate caps at the top and a series of stained-glass windows that are original to the building, which dates back to 1891.
Those historic features will be preserved, Morgan said, as will be any other such finds.
Several local businesses and organizations have worked with the town on this project, including Main Street Pendleton, Historic Fall Creek, Pendleton Settlement, the South Madison Community Foundation and the Pendleton Artists Society.
An additional $125,000 of matching funds from various sources — including the groups above and building owners — are helping fund the effort.
Rachel Christenson, assistant planning director for the town, said she’s watching the restoration work progress and “I think things have been going well.
“We’ve made some discoveries during the process that have been interesting,” she said, referring to the Pendleton Avenue finds.
At 130 W. State Street, it was nice to see that the brick was in decent shape after stucco was removed, Christenson said.
But the building’s nameplate, which was the name of the woman who owned building — Sarah Welch — was missing.
Christenson said current building owner Jerry Burmeister “had an excellent photo of that nameplate,” which is being used create a replacement nameplate.
Jack Wilson, president of the Main Street Pendleton, has been involved with the facade effort from the start and said he is “pretty pleased” with the work so far.
“We’re really hoping, from a Main Street perspective, that this provides an impetus for other building owners to look at maybe enhancing their structures as well.”
Another grant, another facade
Pendleton also received a separate $50,000 Historic Preservation Fund grant this year through the Indiana Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Historic Preservation and Archeology. The money is to pay to restore part of the Pendleton Town Hall facade; the portion outside of the town’s public meeting room at 102 W. State St.
According to a project summary emailed from Christenson, the work includes removing brick from window openings on the second floor and installing new windows that resemble the original, repairing and cleaning the masonry, and “returning the storefront to its historically documented design and appearance.”
Pendleton was one of 11 to receive the grant, which is funded through the National Parks Service, Christenson said.
The town is working on architectural drawings; once those are ready, the project will be put out to bid, after which a firm will be hired to do the work.
The town hopes to have that project started in early spring and finished by June 30, the grant deadline, Christenson said.
