Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan for Nine Historic Buildings Owned by the City of Norwalk, Connecticut Mathews Park Buildings: Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Lockwood-Mathews Gate Lodge Lockwood-Mathews Carriage House Lockwood-Mathews Gardener’s Cottage Mill Hill Buildings: Norwalk Town House Governor Fitch Law Office Downtown District Schoolhouse Smith Street Buildings (at the Edge of Mill Hill): Old Jail Smith Street Barn John Milner Associates, Inc. June 2010 Table of Contents Introduction / General Information on the Buildings……………………………................ 5 The Buildings and the Two Parks They Occupy………………………………….. 5 Leasing Arrangements and How Repairs Are Handled…………………................ 7 Purposes of the Present Study……………………………………………………... 9 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………….. 12 Reports on Individual Buildings: Lockwood-Mathews Mansion: Building Profile/History/Current Use…………….….………….………... 14 Character-Defining Features Matrix……………….…………………….. 18 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions….……………. 21 Outline Condition Assessment………………………….………………... 24 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan………….…………………….... 25 Structural Engineer’s Report…………………….……………………….. 28 Recommendations…………….…………………………………………... 29 Lockwood-Mathews Gate Lodge: Building Profile/History/Current Use………………..………………….... 30 Character-Defining Features Matrix……………….…………………….. 33 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions…….…………. 36 Outline Condition Assessment………………………….………………... 38 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan………………………................. 39 Structural Engineer’s Report……………….…………………………….. 42 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report…….. 43 Recommendations…………………………………………………...……. 45 Lockwood-Mathews Carriage House: Building Profile/History/Current Use………………………...…………... 47 Character-Defining Features Matrix…………………..…………………. 50 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions…………...…... 53 Outline Condition Assessment………………………………..………….. 57 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan……………..…………………... 58 Structural Engineer’s Report…………………..…………………………. 61 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report..…… 63 Recommendations……………………………………………...…………. 65 Mathews-Era Gardener’s Cottage: Building Profile/History/Current Use…………………...………………... 66 Character-Defining Features Matrix……………...……………………… 68 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions…..…………… 71 Outline Condition Assessment………………………..………………….. 73 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan……..…………………………... 74 Structural Engineer’s Report…………..…………………………………. 78 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report…..… 79 Recommendations………………………………………………..………. 81 Norwalk Town House: Building Profile/History/Current Use………………..………………….... 82 Character-Defining Features Matrix…………..…………………………. 85 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions……………….. 88 Outline Condition Assessment…………………………………….……... 90 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan…………………..……………... 91 Structural Engineer’s Report……………………….…………………….. 95 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report…..… 97 Recommendations…………………………………………….………….. 99 Governor Fitch Law Office: Building Profile/History/Current Use…………………..………………… 101 Character-Defining Features Matrix……………..………………………. 104 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions…………..…… 107 Outline Condition Assessment……………………………….…………... 109 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan……………..…………………... 110 Structural Engineer’s Report………………….………………………….. 114 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report….…. 115 Recommendations…………………………………………….………….. 117 Downtown District Schoolhouse: Building Profile/History/Current Use…………………..………………… 118 Character-Defining Features Matrix……………..………………………. 120 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions..……………… 122 Outline Condition Assessment…………………….……………………... 124 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan….……………………………... 125 Structural Engineer’s Report……….…………………………………….. 129 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report….…. 130 Recommendations……………………………….…………….………….. 131 Old Jail: Building Profile/History/Current Use…………………..………………… 132 Character-Defining Features Matrix…………………………………..…. 135 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions……..………… 137 Outline Condition Assessment…………………………..……………….. 142 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan……….………………………... 142 Structural Engineer’s Report…………….……………………………….. 146 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report.……. 147 Recommendations………………………………………………………… 149 Smith Street Barn: Building Profile/History/Current Use…………………….……….……… 150 Character-Defining Features Matrix……………………..………………. 153 Systemic Analysis of Building Assembly and Conditions……………….. 154 Outline Condition Assessment…………………………………….……... 157 Wall Drawing, Perimeter Plan, Site Plan………………….…………...… 158 Structural Engineer’s Report……………………….…………………….. 161 Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer’s Report….…. 162 Recommendations……………………………………………..………….. 163 Compilation of Recommendations……….……………………………………….. ………. 164 Part I: by Building…...………………………………………………….. 164 Part II: by Time Frame…………………………………………………... 172 Appendices: List of Drawings and Similar Documents Provided by the City…………………………... 183 Photographs from the Historic American Buildings Survey and Norwalk Repositories….. 187 Historic Maps………………………………………………………………………………. 207 Brochure on Restoration of the Governor Fitch House……………………………………. 210 Tenant Interview Notes…………………………………………………………………….. 211 Comprehensive Historic Preservation Plan for Nine Historic Buildings Owned by the City of Norwalk, Connecticut INTRODUCTION / GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE BUILDINGS The report that follows was prepared by John Milner Associates, Inc., between October 2009 and May 2010. It is a review of current conditions at nine historic buildings owned by the City of Norwalk, Connecticut, and a plan for their preservation and maintenance in upcoming years. The buildings are located in two locations: Mathews Park and Mill Hill, including two buildings along Smith Street, at the edge of Mill Hill. The report is arranged with a chapter for each building so that all condition assessments, current photographs, drawings, engineering reports, and similar documents specific to a given building and generated for this project are found together. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion is first, followed by the mansion’s outbuildings from nearest to furthest away. The Norwalk Town House is the first building after those related to the mansion, and it is followed by the two frame buildings directly behind it, after which are the reports on the two nearby buildings facing Smith Street. In addition to physical proximity, this order provided a way to place the largest building at the beginning of the report and one of the smallest and simplest buildings at the end. It also places the buildings roughly in the order of significance as well as permanence of materials. The text immediately below begins with the Norwalk Town House because of its unusually long tenure as a civic building. The Buildings and the Two Parks They Occupy The Three Buildings on Mill Hill — Mill Hill is a complex that centers on Norwalk’s original 1836 town meeting hall, known locally as the “Town House.” Next to the Town House is a triangular tract of open land surrounded by trees, an early town green. At the south end of the green and across the street is a burial ground with burials dating largely from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Two small frame buildings were moved in 1971 to sites directly behind the Town House, between the ca.1921 rear addition to the Town House and the burial ground.1 The Town House serves as office space, exhibit space for interpretive exhibits, and a meeting room for the local historical society. The Historical Society staff, which operates the three buildings, is housed in the Town House. The two frame buildings serve solely as exhibit spaces depicting the original use of each building. The taller of the two buildings is a reconstruction built from part of the eighteenth century residence of the family of Governor Thomas Fitch (governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1754-1766).2 At the time it was moved to this site, it was considered one of the few surviving mid-eighteenth century buildings in Norwalk. The reconstruction represents Governor Fitch’s Law Office as it was in the 1740s. The other is a wood frame one-room school building originally built in 1826 known historically as the East 1 This is the date used by the client in information about the move itself. Some drawings for the project in now the possession of the Norwalk Museum were prepared in September 1969. The drawings were revised as late as August 1972, indicating that the construction work was still underway at that time. General Note: Throughout this report, the dates, names of designers, and similar historical information come from sources provided by the client and their tenants. The request for proposals for the project contains historical information about the buildings. Some information was retrieved from the web sites of the tenant organizations, or from publications they have issued, and some of this information was provided by the client directly to the team. A limited number of other sources were used to confirm basic facts, such as the National Register nomination for the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion. Additional historical