Historic Fountain Restoration at Gore Park

[LikeHamilton]

Pre-Qualification for Historic Fountain Restoration at Gore Park

The City of Hamilton is requesting applications from a qualified contractor with experience in the conservation treatment of large historic cast iron objects to stabilize and conserve the Gore Park Fountain which stands in downtown Gore Park. The fountain is constructed of both modern cast iron (c1998) and historic cast iron (top bowl and sphere).

SCOPE OF WORK

1. Disassemble fountain, including the central support column, into component pieces. Pieces are to be labelled using metal tags attached with metal wire. Do not scribe labels directly on the metalwork
2. Carry out condition inspection in consultation with Consultants
3. Design, fabricate and install points of attachment for lifting the large bowl
4. Blast clean components to bare metal as specified.
5. Once clean, coat with specified coatings
6. Topcoat and primer will be specified by coatings consultant. Coatings consultant will inspect and approve all painted metalwork, before and after assembly
7. Once all components are painted, reassemble using stainless steel fasteners and welds where necessary
8. Transport back to the site, assemble as needed and reinstall
9. Final inspection of the coatings will be crucial. Any damages to topcoat incurred during transport or installation are to be made good

Closing 9/3/2009

.

[FairHamilton]

Work on the fountain should make this guy's day; http://thespec.com/article/550662

[jgrwatson]

I'd be curious on the time-frame for the rehabilitation? No fountain in Gore would be, honestly, quite odd and seriously affect the image of the park.

[SteelTown]

They are suppose to dismantle and treat the cast-iron fountain off-site during the winter. The corrosion will be removed to bare metal and the surface treated and coated.

[SteelTown]

Gore Park fountain coming down Sunday

November 12, 2009
Emma Reilly
Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/671522

Gore Park’s fountain is flying south for the winter

The iconic downtown fountain will be disassembled this Sunday and sent to Ohio for restoration. It will return to Hamilton in the spring “as soon as weather allows” and will be re-assembled in the park, city officials said today.
 
Though the city says the fountain is in generally good condition, the foundry coating is faulty and some of the cast iron has corroded. Painting over the fountain without dismantling it wouldn’t fix the problem, the city says, and leaving it untreated could eventually compromise its strength.
 
The fountain is a replica of the original 1859 fountain that was taken down for safety reasons in the 1950s, though the upper bowl and finial are original. The replica was unveiled in 1996 as part of Hamilton’s sesquicentennial celebrations.
 
Once it’s back in place, the fountain will be monitored each year by conservation professionals.

[realcity]

at least Ohio will get some work. I guess no one in Hamilton knows anything about iron and metal coating.

[crhayes]

Originally Posted by realcity

at least Ohio will get some work. I guess no one in Hamilton knows anything about iron and metal coating.

It's possible that there's no one in Hamilton qualified to do this type of restoration work; furthermore it could have just been more feasible to send it to Ohio.

[realcity]

^ obviously


But I'm confident the tenders went out to local businesses.. and no one was qualified *in the steel/metal centre of the country*. or could compete price wise. Good way to support local jobs.

[holymoly]

TheSpec.com -
Gore's famous fountain heads to U.S. for makeover

Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator

(Nov 14, 2009)

Gore Park's fountain is flying south for the winter to get a $114,000 facelift.

The iconic downtown fountain will be disassembled tomorrow and sent to Ohio for restoration. It will be re-assembled in the park in the spring, said Therese Charbonneau, senior conservator in the city's culture division.

The cast iron fountain has corroded because its protective coating was faulty. If the problem isn't fixed, the deterioration will continue and the core metal will get weaker, Charbonneau said.

As the fountain is made of several pieces bolted together, dismantling it is the only way to get rid of the problem.

"If you painted over it, you would just be coating the parts you can see," Charbonneau said. "You have to seal everything for this system to work."

The fountain is a replica of the original 1859 structure that was taken down for safety reasons in the 1950s, though the upper bowl and finial are original.

The replica was unveiled in 1996 as part of Hamilton's sesquicentennial celebrations. It was made locally by family-owned McCoy Foundry Co.

The Ohio company doing the restoration work, McKay Lodge, won out in the city's public tender bidding process.

About $95,000 of the $114,000 project is coming out of the city's Future Fund, the same pool that will pay for the city's $60-million contribution to the 2015 Pan Am Games. The rest will come out of capital block funding, Charbonneau said.

Once it's back in place, the fountain will be monitored each year by conservation professionals. While it's being repaired, Christmas decorations will be displayed on the empty base.

The fountain repairs go hand-in-hand with plans to revamp the park as part of the Gore Master Plan, a move prompted by the pending removal of buses on the south leg of King Street East. The buses will move to a new facility on MacNab Street.

The preferred proposal for the park calls for the south side of King Street to be transformed into a pedestrian mall. It also includes a performance space, a veterans' memorial area, a central garden and cafe patio.

Rob Norman, manager of open space development and park planning, expects the majority of 2010 will be dedicated to approving the final designs.

Construction is expected to begin by early 2011.

[realcity]

Originally Posted by holymoly

The replica was unveiled in 1996 as part of Hamilton's sesquicentennial celebrations. It was made locally by family-owned McCoy Foundry Co.

The Ohio company doing the restoration work, McKay Lodge, won out in the city's public tender bidding process.

nice job City Hall.... it seems EcDev is doing a good job with our local economy

[realcity]

btw how much is transportation costs? and how much is carbon emission costs?

[BrianE]

I guess govmint can't win either way. If they put a project out to tender and go with the lowest bid, they're shafting the local economy.

If they hand pick a local but more expensive company then they're wasting tax payer's money.

I don't know why anybody even bothers working for taxpayers anymore, you get nothing but grief. As I've said before, if supervisors and managers behaved like the average tax payer they would have been lynched by their employees long ago. As a group, we're terrible managers.

[crhayes]

Originally Posted by BrianE

I guess govmint can't win either way. If they put a project out to tender and go with the lowest bid, they're shafting the local economy.

If they hand pick a local but more expensive company then they're wasting tax payer's money.

I don't know why anybody even bothers working for taxpayers anymore, you get nothing but grief. As I've said before, if supervisors and managers behaved like the average tax payer they would have been lynched by their employees long ago. As a group, we're terrible managers.

Some people just like to complain about anything.

[LikeHamilton]

I believe this company was the only company to submit a bid.