PM41537042
Free
Vol. 7 • Issue 95
Friday, May 29, 2015
Rebirth of an East Shore landmark See Page 5 280 Baker Street Nelson BC (250)
354-4089
Immersed in their craft See Pages 2 and 3
Anton Horvath explains the details of restoring a heritage window at Nelson’s 115-year-old train station. Bill Metcalfe photo
valhallapathrealty@telus.net www.valhallapathrealty.com
NOW OPEN! Wednesdays,
Thursdays & Fridays, 11-3 on Baker St! freshtracksexpress.com
Call to pre-order! 250-509-1402 2 FOR 1
AR FOOTWE ON ALL OTHING & CL
‘The way backwards is the way forward’ Restoring the windows on Nelson’s historic train station is no easy task
BILL METCALFE Nelson Star First in a series on the restoration Lessons • Retail of Nelson’s CPR station Custom • Repairs nton Horvath is restoring 56 heri250.352.1157 tage wooden paned windows, Tues. - Sat.: 9:00 - 4:00 and it’s a complex job. Built and 601-D Front St. Emporium installed in Nelson’s old train station in 1900, the windows have been covered lead-based paint many times. HAPPY NEW YEAR! with “We start with stripping them,” says In-store Specials! Horvath. “We use hot guns, and there is lead paint on them so you have to use a respirator. For the next stage, you put them in a steamer that we built.” The steamer is to soften the glazing so Horvath can take out the glass panes and save them. Some of the windows have multiple small panes, so it can be a lot of work. Then he sands the windows, with machines and by hand, and cleans them using sandpaper, steel wool, and
A
an alcohol-based cleaner. Once the original wood is exposed and smooth, Horvath puts shellac on the inside of the window frame, puts the glass back in, and then puts linseed oil on the outside of the frames. When the windows are re-installed, another modern glass pane will be installed inside them, to provide double glazing for the extremely high insulation values the whole building is aiming for.
sustainability and green building,” says Joern Wingender, the contractor overseeing the restoration. “The finishes you buy in the hardware store are petroleumbased.” Linseed oil is derived from flax, and shellac is a resin secreted by a bug on trees in India and Thailand, mixed with ethanol. “Bringing the project in sync with nature,” he says. “This is ecosystembased architecture.”
Old-fashioned, sustainable finishes
Living up to heritage standards
Shellac and linseed oil are both oldtime finishes. They take more coats and more drying time than modern finishes, but their presence here says a lot about the authenticity of the restoration of the building. “Ironically we are on the cusp of something that everybody talks about:
The building has a federal heritage designation for railway stations, and the heritage registry recognizes three components of this station that need to be preserved: the windows, upper canopy, and siding. “I am often asked why we don’t chuck out the windows and put vinyl windows
in because it would be cheaper,” says Wingender. “But if you do that, you lose the significance of the building. This is about asking where we come from, and what we have done in the past, and what we want to do in the future.” Tom Thomson, the executive director of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce, which initiated and is constantly fundraising for the restoration, agrees. “That building could have been knocked down and replicated for twothirds the cost,” he says. “Some people thought we were acquiring an asset, some thought a liability. “It fits the reputation of Nelson for heritage buildings,” Thomson says. “We wanted to set an example to other building owners and developers: here is an example of how to maintain heritage buildings.”
Continued on page 11
Ready for a New Hue? Let the paint experts help you Hipperson Hardware 395 Baker Street 250.352.5517 Home Owners helping homeowners
Nelson Home Building Centre 101 McDonald Drive 250.352.1919
REGISTER AT WWW.HOMEHARDWARE.CA
WE’VE GOT YOUR LUMBER®