July, 2019
Weeksville’s historic Hunterfly Road Houses are now watertight thanks to a $24,000 Conservancy emergency grant. Expert carpenters from Fifty Three Restorations Inc. repaired windows, decayed gutters, rotted stair treads and cellar hatch doors that were letting in water and causing serious interior damage. An emergency grant in May provided roof tarps for two of the houses. The repairs will keep the houses from incurring further water damage while they wait for a city-funded restoration project.
Weeksville was a thriving, mid-19th century, free black settlement in what is now Crown Heights. The non-profit Weeksville Heritage Center asked for help this spring to keep this important site open. The Conservancy has worked with Weeksville for almost 30 years and will do all we can to protect the remaining landmark homes.
UPDATE: August, 2020
Good News. Weeksvillle Heritage Center began $400,000 of preservation work this week on their historic wooden homes (see Press Release). Promised City capital funding is frozen, so private money is saving the day. The Conservancy provided Emergency Grants to stop leaks in the buildings, stabilizing them until this work could begin. Weeksville is one of the most important free Black pre-Civil War sites in the country.
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May, 2019
Conservancy Acts to Protect Weeksville
The Conservancy is funding emergency repairs at three of the historic buildings at the Weeksville Heritage Center. Roof tarps were installed over leaking roofs on May 30. This will preserve the vulnerable interiors of the houses until the City commences a roof replacement project sometime next year.
Protecting the houses from further rain damage will assist the nonprofit Center in their ongoing efforts to preserve one of the most important free-Black settlements in the country. In addition to the roof tarps, the Conservancy is looking into funding other repairs that will help stabilize the historic Hunterfly Road Houses.