Two recent elements that received attention were the vent ball on top of the lantern room and the upper west window which lost its corner when the belt course pieces failed in late 2001.

When the vent ball was removed and lowered to the ground recently, it was full of birds’ nesting material. The crew foreman called it the “Ritz-Carlton for birds” because of its spaciousness, and its ocean views! Unfortunately, it was also intentionally scored and dented at the top, likely because the last time it was refurbished, a shorter anchor bolt was used. The repairs included cleaning out the nesting material, adding mesh screening inside to prevent new lodgers, and un-denting the top. It has been returned and is now painted a deep red which will match the finished lantern room roof.

The upper west window presented its own challenge as two pieces of the granite pediment above the window were knocked loose when the belt course pieces came down. For more than 20 years, those two pieces of granite floated between the park store and office, and maybe other places unbeknownst to us! The larger piece, a dagger-shaped one, had lived in the office corner for many years; the smaller squarish piece had hidden in several spots, coming to rest in the office loft. Handing over the two pieces brought a smile to the foreman’s face. He exclaimed, “This saves hours of work to recreate that pediment!”

It's nice to have these repairs made, whether anyone ever notices or not. As the larger project moves forward, there will surely be more “little touches that will mean a lot.”

— Julia Barrow, Special Projects Coordinator