LOWER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — A Franklin County consultant will soon perform a visual inspection of the Heller Barn ruins to suggest potential winterizing precautions before the cold hits.
At a 6.5-hour meeting on Wednesday, township officials set aside just over $1,000 for an assessment of the barn’s standing masonry stone walls and mortar, with focus to be directed at the open walls’ exposed tops and respective drainage.
The site visit will cost $800, requested by the consultant to be paid in-person after the review. That price includes pre-visit preparation, phone consultations and equipment needed — but separate from that is a $214.40 charge to cover the consultant’s commute.
“The review will be focused on means to preserve and protect the walls through the winter in an attempt to prevent as much more damage from occurring as possible.”Douglass Reed, historic structure consultant with Preservation Associates Inc.
A post-assessment report on the findings would require a separate fee from the township.
Built in 1790, the nationally recognized site is one of a few remaining structures at the Heller Homestead, which serves as a township park and museum along Friedensville Road near the township border with Hellertown.
Preserving, protecting
Douglass Reed, historic structure consultant with Preservation Associates Inc., of Mercersburg, Pa., said he holds over a half-century of experience working “with deteriorated historic buildings and their appropriate remedies.”
“The review will be focused on means to preserve and protect the walls through the winter in an attempt to prevent as much more damage from occurring as possible,” Reed wrote in a Nov. 12 letter to Saucon Valley Conservancy President Roger Jurczak.
The barn, made up entirely of native stone from nearby Saucon Creek, at one point was severely damaged from a storm, according to the Saucon Valley Conservancy website.
The Heller legacy
The park’s Michael and Margaret Heller House was built in 1751, but the land was previously owned by Nicholas Walber in what was Bucks County at the time.
Michael Heller, whose family represents the namesake of the neighboring borough, was a key settler of the area after emigrating from Germany. His father, Christopher, is typically referenced as the founder of Hellertown, though Lower Saucon’s website states it may have been Michael instead.
The 250-acre homestead property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
Hellertown’s Water Street Park and the Saucon Rail Trail also are nearby.
The Saucon Valley Conservancy will have its Holiday Open House from 6-8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9, at the Heller Homestead, 1892 Friedensville Road.
