{"id":24092,"date":"2025-02-12T07:03:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T12:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=24092"},"modified":"2025-02-12T07:03:44","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T12:03:44","slug":"financial-aid-needed-for-dugan-museum-roof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/financial-aid-needed-for-dugan-museum-roof\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial aid needed for Dugan museum roof"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the roof leaks are not repaired, the entire structure, along with the collections, will be jeopardized,\u201d said Sandy Collier, president of the Adams County Historical Society. \u201cThe community would risk losing a major piece of Adams County history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would be extremely grateful for any and all donations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collier was referring to expensive roof repairs needed at its Dugan Mansion Museum in Decatur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With spring rains coming, time is of the essence. A portion of the work has been done, but much more is needed \u2013 as are donations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Collier<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In all, the repair work is expected to run close to $60,000, of which the society’s reserves may be able to handle around $16,000. So, obviously, that leaves a major gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe realize this is a lot of money to put into a roof,\u201d Collier said. \u201cBut keep in mind the Dugan family built this house in 1902. The structure retains its original roof of slate tiles and copper valleys. Though the roof is 120 years old, we have been assured that the tiles will last another 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(For ways to donate, see end of story.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The valleys and flashing have become an issue, according to Collier. The metal has failed and pulled away and the nails have left holes which are causing leaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Dugan Mansion is one of the few remaining architectural gems of the county,\u201d Collier noted. \u201cThe house is original in every aspect and remains an example of an earlier life style in our community. The collections housed within also offer a glimpse into our past. This former way of life should be preserved for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The repair work has begun \u201cas we could not afford to put it off,\u201d Collier explained. \u201cWe had discovered at least five leaks late last fall. So, we felt it necessary to attend to these before spring rains began.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roof work has been divided into three phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Chimney work, $16,186.00;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2), Valley replacement, $23,645.00;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3), Flat roof, hip and ridge repair, $13,125.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasing the cost were some additional problems discovered when the older roofing material was being removed. That added another $6,000 to the total cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs you can see, this is a very expensive project,\u201d Collier underscored. \u201cBut it is one we knew that eventually we would have to face. As a non-profit, we are committed to being good stewards of our organization and collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo we do have a savings held in reserve for this very concern. However, not nearly enough to meet the close to $60,000.00 expense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOVING AHEAD: Wellman Brothers Inc., a fourth generation maintenance and restoration contractor in Coldwater, Ohio, was chosen to do the repair job and began last fall. \u201cThis is a company that has been caring for our roof since before 2015.\u201d Colllier noted. \u201cWe have a strong working relationship with them and are confident in their ability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first phase took about three weeks to complete, but no date has been established for phase 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHopefully, it will be soon,\u201d Collier said. \u201cWe feel we can cover most of the $16,186.00 cost. But we still need about $43,770.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Adams County Community Foundation has just granted us $6,100 towards phase 2 and we have received donations of $1,900. We have also applied for a the Decatur facade grant. But we won\u2019t know the results of that until later in the month. Also, the latter is a grant that must be matched by 50%.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Decatur resident said there could have been a savings had aluminum rather than copper be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did check into this, but the price difference is minimal,” Collier explained. \u201cThe expense is mostly due to labor. And, again, there is a caveat. It is difficult to find contractors in this area who are qualified to do the work as it is a specialized roofing system which calls for specific expertise and experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the historical society soldiers on, seeking funds for a desperately needed project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe realize this is a lot of money to put into a roof,\u201d Colllier said. \u201cBut keep in mind that the Dugan family built this house in 1902. The structure retains its original roof of slate tiles and copper valleys. Though the roof is 120 years old, we have been assured that the tiles will last another 50 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, the valleys and flashing have become an issue. The metal has failed and pulled away and the nails have left holes which are causing leaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Dugan Mansion is one of the few remaining architectural gems of the county,\u201d Collier continued. \u201cThe house is original in every aspect and remains an example of an earlier life style in our community. The collections housed within also offer a glimpse into our past This former way of life should be preserved for future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the roof leaks are not repaired, the entire structure, along with the collections, will be jeopardized. The community would risk losing a major piece of Adams County history. We would be extremely grateful for any and all donations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two easy ways to donate: Mail a check to ACHS, PO Box 262, Decatur IN 46733 (Write ‘Roof Project ‘ in the memo line); or donate online at the society’s website www.AdamsCountyMuseum.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BOB SHRALUKA WZBD.com \u201cIf the roof leaks are not repaired, the entire structure, along with the collections,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[17,14,15],"class_list":["post-24092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-community","tag-decatur","tag-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Outlook-klpauibw.jpg?fit=2387%2C1441&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24096,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24092\/revisions\/24096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}