The nearly 100 year old Nakoma stone entrance features along Odana Road and Manitou Way are in need of long overdue maintenance and restoration. After a long career in preservation and construction I just can’t help but notice things like this and the situation has worsened over my 17 years of neighborhood walks.
As anyone looking for good tradespeople has noticed, it’s very hard to find qualified people to get building projects done. By a stroke of luck, on one of my neighborhood walks, I found a great stone mason, Matt Caygill from Mount Horeb, owner of Stonemarcs Masonry . Matt and his crew have started work on the gateways at Oneida and Odana, repairing the damage from the bus accident, grinding out the old mortar, replacing with new mortar and fixing the conical copper tops.
The stone entrance features were designed in 1927 by the nationally known landscape architects, Hare & Hare of Kansas City.
Most of the stone is in very good condition, although some of the original mortar is no longer watertight and is allowing water to penetrate the walls. If this condition is left unchecked the stone, over time, will suffer considerable damage.
Matt grinding out original mortar in preparation for tuckpointing with replacement mortar.
Following grinding hand chisels are used to remove the mortar next to the stone.
New mortar is placed in the joints using a masonry grout bag.
The tuckpointing is completed on this wall preserving it for another 100 years. The existing copper conical tops will be reset on a new copper flashing.
All of this restoration work will be funded through GoFundMe and with contributions from businesses. Contact me with any questions about the project and special opportunities for donor recognition for large contributions – Kevin Pomeroy 608-438-8968.
