YOP Green Lawn Abbey Marble Cleaning Workshop Recap
YOP members (left to right) Sarah Marsom, Nimisha Bhat, Kalpa Baghasingh, Pearl-Jean Mabe, & Michael Blau.
Built in 1927 by the Columbus Mausoleum Company, Green Lawn Abbey is a neoclassical mausoleum listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been undergoing a restoration for a number of years. With 1½“ thick granite walls, marble interior and an imported tile roof, it still impresses with its regal structure and beautiful stained windows. Over the years, the Abbey’s foyer floors have accumulated large areas of badly stained marble from years of organic and metallic damage.
Enter Community Partnership Grants Coordinator for the City of Columbus and fearless leader Kate Matheny. Kate has dedicated herself to restoring Green Lawn Abbey to make it into a usable space for programming, and successfully acquired CLG grants and other opportunities to preserve this historic structure. The Young Ohio Preservationists worked with the Green Lawn Abbey Preservation Association to coordinate a workshop in order to learn about and do some hands-on marble cleaning on July 25th. Kate, her husband Tom of Schooley Caldwell Associates, and Matt Wolf of the Centennial Preservation Group kicked the workshop off by giving a history of the building and its structure. The workshop volunteers learned about different types of marble, how the Abbey’s preservation management plan was created, and the basic process behind marble restoration.
Matt Wolf explaining how marble poultice works.
After surveying the test area set aside for cleaning, volunteers got a brief explanation from Matt about the type of poultice being used on the marble. The poultice, once applied, thickens over time and basically pulls up stains and dirt from the marble. The poultice had been applied a little over 24 hours prior to the workshop, and no one quite knew what the results would be. Workshop volunteers then rolled their sleeves up and got to work, removing the poultice as a team by peeling it back slowly. Wet rags and water were then used as an additional measure to remove any remaining dirt that had been brought up by the poultice.
Peeling off the poultice with a little team work.
Volunteers discovered a 75% improvement after all the cleaning efforts, and it was decided that the marble would look shiny and new after a few more applications of the poultice and a little more elbow grease!
A before and after comparison of the marble pre- and post-poultice.
To become involved in future restoration events at Green Lawn Abbey, keep an eye out on the Green Lawn Abbey website and their Facebook page.
For more pictures check out the album on YOP’s Facebook page
Article by Nimisha Bhat
