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Politics & Government

Estimated Price of Repairing Abbot Hall Rises $344K

Selectmen hope state board will grant several variances in making building handicapped accessible, but the latest estimate of making repairs to the iconic building comes in at nearly $2.47 million.

Repairing Marblehead's trademark Abbot Hall bell tower may cost almost $2.47 million.

That is the number that the Selectmen agreed would be presented to the Town Meeting this spring for its approval. Previous estimates had pegged the bill at $2.1 million.

The Selectmen were told last week that the estimated costs of making the building accessible for wheelchairs would be an additional $344,743. That would include making at least one of the first floor entrances handicapped accessible.

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The town is hoping that the state Architectural Access Board will grant several variances on making the 137-year-old building handicapped accessible. The state board did grant several variances in the renovations of the Old Town House building.

Last month, Town Administrator Jeff Chelgren said the town got most of the variances it requested on the Old Town House. "We hope the same will happen with Abbot Hall," he said.

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Currently the building is accessible to wheelchairs through the basement.

Wendall Kalsow, an architect with McGinley Kaslow and Associates, said Abbot Hall meets the federal standard for access with the lower floor access. But it does not appear to meet the state board rules, the architect said.

Once the final design and construction plans are done, the cost of actual construction might prove to be less than projected, Chelgren said.

If approved by Town Meeting, reconstruction of the Tower would begin and take most of next year.

The damage to the tower caused by age and weather was said to be extensive. Wood, especially on the clock faces, is rotting and needs to have the hands and numbers removed to allow for painting. Water has seeped behind bricks, dislodging them. The shingle stones need to be removed and fixed. Steel beams are rusting. And the entire tower has to be repointed.

"Things are somewhat dire," said John Wathne, president of Structures North consulting engineers. "You would not want to put (the repairs) off."

A copy of the full architectural and engineering report can be found on the town's Web site and is attached to this article as a PDF.

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