Carriage House undergoing renovations, upgrades

Carriage House undergoing renovations, upgrades

Tristan Newlin | For the Journal Review

Structural renovations to the Lew Wallace Carriage House are currently underway. Work on the structure, which was built in 1895, started earlier this month, and should be finished by March.

Director Larry Paarlberg noticed the Carriage House, which is used as a welcome center and educational space, wasn’t level and there was a tilt in the floor. After a structural engineer inspected the floors, it was determined that upgrades were need on the beams of the house.

The $200,000 renovation was funded by private donors, proceeds from the TASTE of Montgomery County and Holiday Tea as well as a grant from the Montgomery County Community Foundation.

The project was designed by Ratio Architects and work is being completed by Brandt Construction.

Previously, the building was saved from demolition by the city and volunteers over 20 years ago. It was extensively restored and opened in 2005 as the Lew Wallace Museum welcome center, Lynne D. Hohlbein Education and exhibit display space, office space, gift shop and artifact storage. Over the years, the site has hosted more than 100,000 people in the building. This attendance combined with the other uses caused some deterioration and structural issues.

Paarlberg said people probably won’t notice the improvements being made, but he believes the work will extend the life of the building.

The most difficult part of the renovation thus far has been moving the fragile materials housed inside. It took four people to move a plexiglass case from the house across the lawn to the Study. In the end, everything made it in and out safely.

There have been several renovations on the Ben Hur Study grounds over the years, including in 2011, 2015 and most recently in 2021, when the walls surrounding the property started to lean. Paarlberg feared that someone could get hurt if the wall fell, so the property closed off the sidewalk while undergoing construction. Paarlberg added there may be further work done on the wall in the future.

Maintaining the historic property has taken a lot of effort and money. The interior of the study was left untouched for more than 100 years until 2011, when the roof was leaking. Before repairs were made, the property had several buckets placed under the ceiling to collect water before it could cause any further damage.

After fixing the roof, a bigger question came to Paarlberg, what was the original color of the ceiling? No one knew because all photos of the study were taken in black and white. After raising money and doing chemical tests on the ceiling, the original color of the ceiling was determined to be a shade of light blue.

Paarlberg added that renovations are important to keep historical landmarks like the Lew Wallace Museum alive and bring visitors to them. Last year visitors from 41 different states made their way to Crawfordsville. However, until the project is complete, the museum and grounds are closed to the public.

When the museum re-opens in mid-April, the 2025 exhibit will look at the epic silent film version of Ben-Hur that was released in 1925. Often considered the first film blockbuster, the movie is given credit for saving MGM studios and changed the film landscape forever.

In addition to the Carriage House renovation project, the museum is sending off two of Wallace’s pieces of elaborate cast iron garden decoration for restoration. These features will be reinstalled later in 2025.

For more information, contact Paarlberg at 765-362-5769 or email [email protected].

Carson Devol contributed to this story. Newlin and Devol are seniors from North Montgomery and Western Boone and are interns for the Journal Review.

 



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