By Andrew Hackmack
The entire outside of the building was repainted among other work to improve the 19th-century building.
Keith Conrad, the village buildings supervisor, said the main purpose of the project was to address the issue of lead paint on the outside of the house. He said it was not a paint removal project but rather an encapsulation. The whole building was wet scraped, sanded, power washed, primed and then coated twice with white paint.
As work was being done, Conrad said that the grounds of the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration were protected with a plastic cover so lead paint flecks would not contaminate the property. "Lead is a very heavy metal," he said. "You don't want anything to seep into the ground."
Additional work included replacing rotted siding and window sills, repairing the back steps and reglazing all of the windows. A total of 21 panes of glass were replaced entirely. "It was an involved job," Conrad said.
The bases of the columns, which support the roof over the side porch, had mostly rotted away and were restored during the project. The columns in the front of the house were also "boxed in" at the top to make the house look more architecturally correct, explained Ed Fare, chairman of the Valley Stream Historical Society board of trustees.
"That was just a piece of wood with columns stuck under it," Fare said, referring to the overhang above the second story windows. "Now it has definition."
Jim Buckley, past chairman of the board, said by not having the columns boxed it created spots for pigeons to roost right above the main entrance to Pagan-Fletcher house. At one point, there were a good 20 pigeons living up there. By boxing in the columns, he said, they now have to go somewhere else.
Fare explained that inside the house, all the window trim was painted to match the color of other trim in the respective room. Outside, many of the old shutters were badly damaged so they were all replaced. Fare said the house has at least 40 windows so more than 80 new shutters were installed.
A leak in the living room ceiling near the front corner of the house had been plagued the village for years, Fare said. The water was coming in from somewhere along the second floor wall, above the porch roof. All of the siding and coping in that area was replaced, he said, and after a few heavy rains since it looks like the problem is fixed.
Conrad said much of the wood in that area was original from when the house was built in the 1840s, so a lot of gaps had formed over time providing a path for water to travel into the house.
The village awarded a bid for $52,875 to Waste Recycling Solutions of Yaphank to perform the work and Conrad said it was completed on budget. "It was done in a reasonable amount of time," he said. "When they couldn't work outside, they worked inside."
Overall, he said it took about three months to complete the project. "The company was very thorough," he said. "The village was very happy with the work."
Conrad said in completing the project, they were very selective in what materials were used and how the work was done. "You've got to be careful," he said, "because this is on the National Historic Record."
Even the gas station building on the property was fully restored. The small structure was located on North Corona Avenue between St. Marks Place and West Argyle Street, and was moved to the Pagan-Fletcher property in 1984. At that time it had been the longest operating station of its kind in Nassau County.
With proper maintenance to the house and gas station building, Conrad estimates that it will be 20 years or more before another major project will need to be done, and at least another 10 years before it needs a fresh coat of paint.
Fare said the historical society hopes to re-open the house for tours this coming Sunday and resume the weekly insights into Valley Stream's past.
