WESTFIELD — Al Masciadrelli, who serves on the building committee for American Legion Post 124 said the work to renovate the historic home at 124 Broad St. is going very well. The post received $600,000 from the Community Preservation Commission one year ago to make badly needed repairs to save the building.
Currently, the work, being done by Sacred Oak Homes of Stockbridge, is focused on the front entrance on Broad Street where a temporary ramp has been installed.
“Right now, we’re really focused on the front to meet the requirements of the Historical Commission,” Masciadrelli said. He said the front porch was more rotted out than expected, and had to be disassembled and pieces remade to keep the historical look. He said Sacred Oak Homes does a lot of historical restoration work.
There has also been electrical work done to the front of the building, and a new sign installed. “Once we get the front entrance [completed], we’re putting in a memorial gas light to honor both past and present members of the veterans. Then, hopefully, we’re going to have a stone marking what that represents,” he said.
Other plans include new fencing on two sides of the building, and masonry repair throughout. He said a lot of the old shrubbery has been taken out. “We’re trying to simplify it, and keep it very tasteful,” he said.
Phase 2 of the project will be work done on the rear main entrance, where plans are to install an accessible lift. Masciadrelli said on Friday he had just gotten off the phone with the architect, who has simplified the prior plans due to changes in the laws. He said the cost for the lift is going to be substantially lower than previously expected.
Masciadrelli said Post 124 plans to remain open throughout the construction, barring brief interruptions as required by the building inspector. “The general contractor is very mindful of that. Like all businesses, when you do expensive work, there are interruptions,” he said, acknowledging that people are getting “antsy,” and keep asking when it is going to be done.
“We’ve got a good construction team we put together a couple of years ago to do the work — everyone is on the same page,” Masciadrelli said.
“The city was so gracious to give us this money, we’ve got to make sure we do it justice. The Community Preservation Committee was really great to us,” he added.
