For Saxonburg’s wire rope workshop, time (and money) is of essence
If there’s one thing that the borough of Saxonburg holds dear to its heart, it’s being the birthplace of wire rope — the material which made possible the Brooklyn Bridge and countless other suspension bridges all over the world. John Roebling, who founded the borough, perfected the wire rope at his workshop in Saxonburg.
That workshop is still around today, and historian Fred Caesar and the rest of the Friends of the Saxonburg Museum are trying to make sure it stays that way for the foreseeable future.
Since 2017, the workshop’s foundation has been slowly sinking into the ground. Caesar estimates one side of the workshop has sunk by 2 to 4 degrees in that time.
“Several years ago, you could push a marble across the floor to the corner,” Caesar said. “Today, you put the marble on the floor, it just rolls over to the corner now. It’s that bad to the one side.”
The workshop is not at the same location it was when Roebling perfected the wire rope. Back then, it was located at the corner of North Rebecca and Water streets. Slated for demolition in the 1970s, it was eventually moved to its current location near the Saxonburg Museum, within what is now Roebling Park.
At one point, visitors could tour the workshop in person. Today, the closest anyone can get is to peer through the window and catch a glance of what life was like for the German architect.
This March, the borough paid more than $28,000 to commission a study conducted by Saxonburg-based company Etzel Engineer and Build. The study estimated that it would cost roughly $250,000 to perform the necessary repairs to save the sinking workshop.
“There’s a lot of money that goes into the project of lifting the building up, building a new foundation and then plopping it back down in the foundation,” Caesar said. “It is a very expensive process because it's a very fragile building.”
For the past five months, the Saxonburg Museum has sought donations from the community to try and make a dent in the needed $250,000. So far, they have raised about $25,000, mostly in small increments.
“That's a lot of $20 and $50 checks,” Caesar said. “A lot of people have contributed to that $25,000.”
The study itself required Caesar and the Saxonburg Museum to solicit $28,304 to offset the costs. This means that, in total, the museum has collected more than $50,000 from Saxonburg residents to save the cultural landmark from crumbling.
There is a chance that the Museum Friends could also qualify for one or more historical preservation grants from Pennsylvania that are up for grabs in the coming months. However, some of these grants require a 50/50 cash match. This means that they cannot apply for more grant money than they have in reserve.
“If the Friends’ bank account only has … say, $35,000 at the time, the grant would only be for another $35,000,” Caesar said.
While Caesar is grateful for every penny given by residents, he knows that time could be running out to save the workshop from collapse. He says he’s been told that the building may not be able to hold out for any longer than a year and a half — possibly even less if a winter storm drops some snow on the roof.
“If we can't get the work started next year, if we can’t get the grants and the money lined up, we're probably going to have to put supports on the backside of the building to hold it up until we get the money,” Caesar said.
Residents can donate to the workshop restoration through a special GoFundMe page which has been set up here.
