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Partnering in Trades Training to Build a Foundation for the Future
Above: Crew members pose for a picture with Fabio Bardini, lime masonry expert and trainer, after a successful day of learning about the lime mortar repointing process. Bottom, L-R: Charlie Sykes, Maggie McCormack, Karina Cardenas, Sierra Baker, Fabio Bardini Top, L-R: Ben Lee, Naomi Ingbur, Shealagh Crowley, Thomas Bray.
by JANINA PEPPERS
Janina Peppers is Senior Manager for Historic Preservation at the Student Conservation Association. With contributions from 2023 Massachusetts Historic Preservation Corps members Sierra Baker and Thomas Bray.
Historic preservation projects often require an intricate web of relationships to be successful. The training program Historic New England and the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Corps run together is no exception. What began as a request from Historic Preservation Corps to Historic New England for a preservation carpenter to facilitate a training in 2021 has blossomed into a partnership from which both organizations benefit. The Campaign for Historic Trades has identified the lack of skilled preservation trades practitioners as one of the most pressing issues for the field. Historic New England and the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Corps are working together to address the need to train skilled tradespeople to do preservation work.
Each year, Historic Preservation Corps trains a cohort of young adults in carpentry, masonry, window restoration, and other preservation trades. Historic Preservation Corps began as a partnership between the Student Conservation Association and AmeriCorps in 2017 and has grown into a sixteen-person program offering paid training throughout the commonwealth. Through AmeriCorps, crew members work on projects with Boston National Historical Park, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Historic New England, and the National Park Service. Historic Preservation Corps also contracts directly with non-profits and government agencies to provide services for hire.
During the 2023 Historic Preservation Corps training season, Historic New England’s preservation staff provided two weeks of window restoration training that covered the entire process from sash removal to installation. Trainees also worked on a masonry restoration project at the oldest surviving greenhouse in North America, the Bark Pit Greenhouse (c. 1796) at the Lyman Estate in Waltham, Massachusetts. Historic New England and Historic Preservation Corps engaged masonry and lime mortar experts Fabio Bardini and Blaise Davi to teach the corps members. Bardini led trainings on lime mortar mixes and application techniques. To prepare them for their time with Bardini, Davi taught the crew the basics of historic brick masonry and mortar mixing. Historic Preservation Corps Project Leader Thomas Bray was thrilled to be assigned such a complex project and to learn from well-known experts, noting “the team trained alongside Historic New England’s preservationists to understand the nuances of lime mortar, the place of contemporary materials, and the importance of matching historic mortar to historic brick.” can within your means are skills needed for any job. I know these lessons will take me far when this program is over.” Other corps members agreed. “Historic New England preservationists hold themselves to a high level and encouraged us to do the same. We set up a clear plan of work and executed it without setbacks,” Bray said. “Even as the crews changed over, the expertise of Historic New England staff and their willingness to work with us aided us in finishing the project on schedule.”
Historic New England benefits from the partnership as much as the corps members. “We’re really excited about our ongoing partnership with the Historic Preservation Corps,” said Team Leader for Property Care Benjamin Haavik. “We not only were able to get much needed preservation work completed on the Bark Pit Greenhouse, but the ability to share our work and potentially inspire the next generation of tradespeople is critical to the future of preservation.”
Working with talented instructors in the field contributed to a successful crew member experience. “What was invaluable was working alongside professionals in historic carpentry and learning what they do on a daily basis,” said corps member Sierra Baker. “Creative problem-solving and doing the best work you can within your means are skills needed for any job. I know these lessons will take me far when this program is over.” Other corps members agreed. “Historic New England preservationists hold themselves to a high level and encouraged us to do the same. We set up a clear plan of work and executed it without setbacks,” Bray said. “Even as the crews changed over, the expertise of Historic New England staff and their willingness to work with us aided us in finishing the project on schedule.”
Historic New England benefits from the partnership as much as the corps members. “We’re really excited about our ongoing partnership with the Historic Preservation Corps,” said Team Leader for Property Care Benjamin Haavik. “We not only were able to get much needed preservation work completed on the Bark Pit Greenhouse, but the ability to share our work and potentially inspire the next generation of tradespeople is critical to the future of preservation.”
