Contractors busy at Bent’s replacing decayed timber
Provided photo – Contractors are replacing decayed timber and replacing it with steel beams at the southeast corner of the Bent’s Opera House in Medina.
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Bent’s Opera House is a landmark on Main Street in Medina. This photo was taken on Friday.
MEDINA – The rotted wooden beams in the southeast corner of the Bent’s Opera House are being replaced with steel beams, which will strengthen the building and stop the sagging at that corner of the historic structure.
The opera house was built during the Civil War in 1864. The Orleans Renaissance Group owns the site and moved to replace the rotted wood after an engineering assessment last year showed the work was critical.
The main structural support timbers had decayed due to water infiltration. The ORG secured a $100,000 emergency loan from the Preservation League of New York State for the project.
The original wooden beam also decayed due to water infiltration. ORG will replace the decayed section of the wood beam with new steel. Once the steel is in, a mason will remortar the stone wall.
ORG will reconstruct the missing masonry walls from footers below the basement up to the beam that supports the second- and third-story stone façade. The projects should be done by the end of the year.
ORG will also have a contractor use new mortar to rebuild and repoint some of the existing stone. The projects could be done by the end of the year.
ORG has plans for Phase 2 at Bent’s. That will include restoration of the original three storefronts using decorative cast-iron columns and cornice. The Village Planning Board in August approved a certificate of appropriateness for that work.