Woodburne structural analysis?

[john Haigis]

Sophia Peterson and Stewards of Woodburne:

I hope you are well and I’m writing to ask if a structural analysis of Woodburne is planned? I do not believe such has ever been done. There was a visual assessment that all three floors of the main house have collapsed, leaving piles of debris in the basement. Has there been / will there be any assessment of the cost of removing this debris? Although the main building was deemed unsafe, the 21 inch stone walls and steel I-beam frame seem to be holding. I understand the area around the elevator shaft is very compromised, but has there been any effort to look at the other rooms in the Kitchen / Service wing including the status of the ovens and stoves? Is there going to be any attempt to determine what can be salvaged, and what cannot? The 2022 Mothballing study was a good step in that direction, but conditions have changed.

The County is in a tough position as stewards of a historically significant building with an intact exterior in a time of great financial and political uncertainty. Among the building’s strengths, in addition to its steel and stone bones, are that it is already owned by the County with no development pressure. The building gives identity and purpose to the plateau. I believe the remaining structure can have an adaptive reuse at less cost and environmental damage than demolition. Could there be a charette to consider that question? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charrette

Is there a time we could meet and talk?

Thank you.

Respectfully,

John Haigis
Friend of Woodburne
610-809-4856

Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are- T.R.Roosevelt