Historic Cherry Hill is currently immersed in a major restoration project that includes structural stabilization, window restoration, updating mechanical systems, and restoration of interior finishes. Almost all collections have remained onsite. Small objects were boxed and stored in built-in storage areas within the historic house. Large pieces were draped in Tyvek and packed in situ in custom oversize boxes. We placed each piece on either a furniture blanket or a sheet of cardboard and then built the box around it—so boxes are actually movable within the room. Boxes were made out of double-wall cardboard purchased from Uline in enormous sheets (48” x 96”). Uline also sells prefab oversize boxes which can be useful for storing medium-sized collections pieces, like chairs. This method was cheaper and more manageable than plywood and offered sufficient protection. I can get into the specifics of how I made the boxes offline if you like. Suffice it to say…it’s amazing what you can do with a box cutter, double-wall cardboard…and a few great interns. ;-)
Does anyone have any recent examples of protective measures that were implemented to ensure the safety of larger objects within a construction zone?We are assisting an historic house with packing, moving and temporarily storing collections for an upcoming construction project. The rehab work will include HVAC and fire suppression upgrades that could obviously damage objects within the 20+ furnished rooms. The curatorial staff, along with contracted fine art handlers, are well-equipped to handle the packing and moving of smaller furnishings and decorative arts to storage areas for the duration of the construction work. But, most rooms contain larger furniture that can not be moved for various reasons and thus need to be protected in place. Crating each is an option, but may be cost prohibitive. Since this is an historic house, the same can be said for built-in pieces (such as mantles, bookcases and sinks) that also need protection.Please let us know if you have guidance and/or lessons learned that we can share.Giles ParkerMuseum CuratorNational Park ServiceNortheast Museum Services Center617-242-5613 x214Twitter: @NPS_NMSCFacebook: Northeast Museum Services Center========================================================= Important Subscriber Information:The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
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