The north face of the Cumberland Events Center, where the windows will get transparent protective covers.
On a bike ride Friday, I stopped at the fence outside the former Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Santiam Road to take yet another photo of the restored building.
The historic structure dates from 1892. No longer used as a church, it has been in the local news dozens of times over the last few years. Volunteers organized as the Cumberland Community Events Center got it moved to its present site in 2021 and have restored it since.
On Wednesday the Albany Landmarks Commission gave the Cumberland group permission to protect the restored colored windows on the building’s north side with sheets of transparent polycarbonate.
The material of the covering is clear, so it should be almost imperceptible, said Joel Orton, the Cumberland’s vice president. The sheets will be vented and installed with clips, not screwed directly into the sashes of the historic windows.
Protecting the windows this way will cost $8,100, Orton told me: “Not cheap but [it] includes a UV coating which should double the life of the material and prevent yellowing.”
Why did this have to go to the Landmarks Commission? Because adding the polycarbonate, even though almost impossible to see from afar, amounts to an “exterior alteration on a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places.”
Restoration of the north windows last year cost nearly $19,000. Protecting them is obviously a good idea, and the Landmarks Commission took only minutes to approve it on Wednesday night. (hh)
Completing the Cumberland Events Center will take a few more years. The inside of the historic church, at 1400 Santiam Road, will be open as part of the Albany Downtown Association’s Christmas Parlor Tour on Dec. 14.
It is a lovely old building, and it is wonderful that it was saved.
Clarification since I have been asked–the money spent was for the woodwork, not the colored glass. I continue to work pro bono as do many others. Hats off to Joel, Emma, and the rest of the volunteers. Making steady progress on this Project is a dream come true.
I have been more worried about vandalism. But UV protection makes sense, have to get permission for almost everything in this world of regulations.
What a beautiful building. I see it is called an events center. What kind of events is it used for?
None yet. When they do, it won’t be free therefore not deserving any public money or tax breaks.
Are they planning on keeping it there and doing any landscaping around it with some walkways and stairs to the entrance?
So landmarks Commission is ok with plastic covers for windows, but not plastic frames in windows for a downtown Church. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.