Special to the Patriot-Bridge
Boston National Historical Park Superintendent Cassius Cash thanks all of the residents of Charlestown for their patience during the 2010 rehabilitation projects at the Bunker Hill Monument. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants totaling $988,000 were used to complete projects to stabilize all four sets of stairs that lead to the Bunker Hill Monument grounds, and to repair, repoint, and clean the masonry of the south & west faces of the Monument. The north and east faces, which are subject to the most weathering from prevailing wind-driven rains, were repointed in 2006 using funds from the National Park Service line-item construction program.
The $742,000 stair repair project was completed by Phoenix Bay State Construction Co. Inc, based in Roxbury, Ma, and the $245, 800 cleaning and repointing project was recently completed by the P.J. Spillane Company based in Everett, MA. The scaffolding has been removed from the face of the Monument and the contractor is currently removing equipment and temporary fencing from the site.
Another contract to repoint all of the mortar joints on the interior of the Monument and replace the interior handrail, scheduled to begin in the spring of 2011, has been awarded to Palmer Federal Constructors, Inc. based in Lawrence, MA., superintendent Cash said. This $402,165 project has been funded through the National Park Service cyclical maintenance program and will include the repointing of all of the interior mortar joints from the sub-basement to the observation level (everything in the stairway), the replacement of the handrail, and the painting of all of the protective metal grills on the windows.