Restoration Project Underway At Pennsylvania Academy Of Fine Arts
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The historic building housing a Philadelphia museum and art school is getting a facelift which can be tricky on a 139-year-old building.
Ice storms a year-and-a-half ago damaged the roof at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts on North Broad Street. Water leaked into the museum. Fortunately, none of the artwork was damaged.
"The ice built up around some of the joints in the roof and heaved those joints," says David Brigham, PAFA's President and CEO. "And when the ice thawed we had water infiltration at those spots. Thankfully, there was only cosmetic damage to the inside of the building and no artwork was affected."
Brigham says the repair work will last through the summer.
"The immediate project is about a million-and-half dollars worth of roof, skylight and masonry repair and cleaning," he says.
And it won't be easy.
"It is a nationally registered building," Brigham says. "It's a historic landmark, considered to be one of the finest Victorian buildings in America.
The museum will remain open throughout the restoration project.