New Roof Needed

By Patrick Colby and Phil Audibert

The Orange County Historical Society Research Center on Caroline Street desperately needs a new roof. And considering the amount of rain we’ve had (seven inches above the year-to-date average), the situation is even more dire. Buildings and Grounds Committee Chair Patrick Colby tells us that the roof is old, slightly sloped, and covered with a rubber-like material. It includes a “built-in gutter,” essentially a metal trough at the low end of the roof that is drained by undersized downspouts. Rust holes in the gutter were noted and have been stabilized, but closer examination revealed deterioration of the wood trim boards and supports associated with the gutter. Complicating all of this was an old no-longer functioning passive solar collector wall, which has since been demolished.

So far, a down payment has been made to a roofer who is already behind schedule due to the wet weather. Meanwhile, auditorium catch buckets are drained and the floor is mopped after each rainstorm.

Yet to come is:

• Roof replacement

• Carpentry to permit installation of a conventional gutter system

• Gutter installation

• Painting the concrete wall exposed by removal of the solar collection system

• And, most importantly, paying for all of the above.

Photo Phil Audibert

Buildings and Grounds Committee Chair Patrick Colby works on a temporary fix to stem leakage into the Sandra and William H. Speiden Auditorium at the Society’s Research Center. Note plastic sheets protecting camera and livestreaming equipment in the background.

OCHS president Ray Ezell recently wrote a letter to the membership outlining the roof problems. The repairs will cost $64,000. After considerable discussion the board “reluctantly” approved “borrowing” the money from the Society’s endowment fund, emphasizing that, although replacing the roof is the top priority, close behind it is “repaying” the endowment. And this is where the membership and friends of the Society come in. Please help us

repay our endowment; its income pays for vital utilities and staff salaries!

You can donate by credit card. Just click on this link:

https://www.orangecovahist.org/roof.

Or, write a check to Orange County Historical Society, noted as “2025 Roof Campaign,”

and mail it to OCHS, 130 Caroline St., Orange, VA 22960

or drop it off in person M-F,

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM.