The Fenton Mansion’s roof has been repaired just one week after the City Council allocated $8,000 to stop leaking issues before further damage was caused to the interior of the former governor’s mansion.
P-J file photo
The Fenton Mansion’s roof has been repaired following issues with leaking that caused damage to the interior of the building.
Jane Babinsky, Fenton History Center’s executive director, confirmed that the leaking has been stopped at the Fenton Mansion.
“The leaking roof has been repaired by Jamestown Roofing,” she said.
Now that the issue of leaking has been adequately addressed, Babinsky said the Fenton History Center will no longer need to have buckets collecting water.
The City Council unanimously approved an emergency funding measure last week after requests were submitted by the Fenton History Center for the necessary funds to repair the roof before further damage could be done to the interior of the building.
While the issue of leaking has been alleviated at the Fenton History Center, additional repair work will be required. Leaking water from the Fenton Mansion’s roof caused damage to the ceiling of the Orientation Room. Babinsky said this issue will need to be addressed in the coming months.
“We will be contacting some contractors to repair the ceiling in the Orientation Room,” she said. “We hope that the ceiling repair can be done this January when the museum will be closed, Jan. 9-31.”
At the most recent City Council meeting, City Council President Anthony Dolce, R-Ward II, explained the importance of the city maintaining the Fenton History Center due to its historical prominence in the city and its educational benefits for the community.
“There will be more to come on that because I know that this was just kind of an emergency measure, but the entire roof will have to be replaced sooner or later,” he said. “We’ll be looking at that down the road in the short term.”
Mayor Eddie Sundquist also emphasized the city’s responsibility to maintain the Fenton Mansion, while revealing that the final cost for the temporary roof repair was significantly lower than originally anticipated.
Since the city is responsible for the maintenance of the Fenton Mansion, Dolce said that funding for the replacement of the entire roof will have to come from the city itself.
“I don’t know if we could use some ARPA funds for that as part of capital, but we’ll have to see what the total bill is and if that would be budgeted, come out of contingency or utilized under capital projects or ARPA funds,” he said.
Dolce said the emergency roof repair on the Fenton Mansion was meant to help the Fenton History Center “get through” the winter and into the spring, but that the roof will need to be further addressed sooner rather than later.
While the interior repairs of the Fenton Mansion are expected to require additional attention and funding in the coming months, the city’s quick action to provide emergency funding for the Fenton History Center prevented the issue from becoming more widespread and more costly in the future.
Babinsky expressed her appreciation on behalf of the Fenton History Center after the repair work was completed.
“The Fenton History Center staff and Board of Trustees are very appreciative of the help received from the city,” she said.