Pastor’s House Restoration Underway with Northern Bedrock

A crew from Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps in Duluth was at the museum helping the staff, interns, and volunteers by bringing out all the artifacts from the Pastor’s House for examination and determination about what happens to them; removing the Nu-Wood sheathing from all the rooms of the house; and removing, restoring, and replacing the windows on the Stuga so they are operational.

The work from July 30th-August 6th on the Pastor’s House is Phase 2 of a multi-phase, multi-year project. The goal is that the building will be restored and open to the public by 2030.

We were so impressed with the hard work and dedication of the Northern Bedrock crew; and are thankful that they are playing such an essential role in this restoration project. The crew included Izzy, Elijah, Marcus, Sophia, and Trinidy. More about each follows.

Izzy Witten, the crew leader, was the connection point between the host (Gammelgården) and crew, and determined what needed to get done each day. Their favorite part was learning different skills with each project, with window glazing being a new skill learned at Gammelgården.

Another highlight for Izzy was the “forced closeness of working with a small team and how close-knit we’ve become.” The most challenging part of the hitch (the one week work session at the museum) was the “drywall and layers we were uncovering [in the kitchen].” They said that there were a lot of unexpected things that came up while working in the Pastor’s House.

Marcus said their favorite part was getting “all of the stuff out of the basement” and seeing how old the items were that were brought up to the tables for examination. “It looks totally different…virtually unrecognizable!” He also said that other things he enjoyed were “…interacting with you [Ann] and Linnea, the campfire a couple nights ago, talking with the crew, and being in a town. Most of the time, we’re in the woods. It was also really nice seeing how many people use the space after hours.”

Their least favorite part was “where we got to so many nails [in the kitchen]. We started in the first room [the parlor] and ripped through that. In the kitchen, there was drywall [on top of the Nu-Wood sheathing] and so many nails. A tornado could have come through the house and the drywall would have been securely on there.”

Trinidy said that she enjoyed her experience at Gammelgården because “almost everything was new.” She liked “the tearing down of walls, the communication, and taking things out [of the Pastor’s House]. There were thousands of things.” As Trinidy looked back on the week, she said, “It’s crazy how much we got done! I am proud to be a part of the project!”

After work hours, Trinidy’s favorite part of the week was “camping, playing Skull [a game], and taking a shower every day.”

The most challenging part for Trinidy was “being away from home and my cats.” She said when she thought about all the hard, physical work that the job entailed, “I really pushed my body! I want to get stronger.”

Sophia said her favorite part was “learning a bunch of practical new skills – basic carpentry, window glazing, painting, museum skills, and historic clothing washing.” After work hours, Sophia enjoyed “playing games with my crew and reading The Devil’s Brood.” (The novel is about the last two decades in Henry II’s life, his imprisonment of his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and his sons who undertake a decade-long rebellion against their father.)

Her least favorite part was dealing with mold and lead. She tried “to learn risk management in regard to that.”

Elijah, who will be with Northern Bedrock until mid-November, will be participating in ten hitches. Gammelgården was his fourth one. He “loved collecting the artifacts and reading the books that were written in English.” Once the work day was over, he enjoyed “playing card games at the campsite.”

Some of the most difficult parts of the hitch were the “walls and the drywall ceiling, which was a triple layer of coverings [wood, Nu-Wood sheathing and drywall].” Elijah wondered why the Nu-Wood sheathing, which was the original ceiling over the wood, wasn’t removed before installing the drywall. This was one of the many questions all of us had as we went through the Pastor’s House and the artifacts.