25-01-2012 16:05 Restoration of a small house,No job is to small at Nationwide Adjusting. http://www.nationwideadjusting.com

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The Bourne Historical Society project to move and upgrade the personal Gray Gables train station of President Grover Cleveland is making progress this winter.

Project manager Ted Ellis was planning to backfill the station foundation and proceed with roof repairs this week. The presidential rail station has been moved from next to the canal to the Aptucxet Trading Post entrance off Shore Road.

Society president Galon “Skip” Barlow and Ellis have been scouring rail yards, looking for a caboose or old train car – of the Keith Car Works vintage – to move next to the train station. “It would be a static display,” Barlow said.

Barlow also said plans also include re-painting the station in its original colors with a red roof. He said the society is also trying to gather artifacts to add to the site, such as vintage light ports and a telegraph machine.

“The telegraph was Cleveland’s lifeblood to Washington,” Barlow said. “It would make a great addition to the site.”

There are other plans unfolding as well. The society plans to invite President Cleveland’s grandson to the opening of the restored station.

And Barlow said he also plans to ask selectmen to add a sign to the highways entering Bourne, showing the late president in silhouette - in his fishing outfit – and announcing “The Summer Home of Grover Cleveland.”

Barlow says the plans are ambitious. But he hopes the station can open about the same time as the trading post; if not then, perhaps in June.

All this is part of a systematic sprucing-up effort at Aptucxet. The goal is to be ready for the 2014 canal centennial celebration, which undoubtedly attract people to the trading post replica next to the canal.

Art studio

There are also new plans for the Joe Jefferson Windmill and Gift Shop across the driveway from the rail station. They involve moving the gift shop to the neighboring information booth transferred to the Aptucxet site from the North Sagamore rotary a few winters ago.

Then the windmill would be restored as an art studio. Barlow said Joe Jefferson, the celebrated 19th century stage actor with a national reputation used the windmill as a studio. Jefferson and Cleveland were fishing buddies.

Barlow said inmate crews supplied by the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department have been working and clearing brush and dead limbs at Aptucxet. The trading post caretaker’s home as well has been refurbished.

“I think that overall all this is real positive thing for Aptucxet,” Barlow said. “The place will be more attractive. There will be more visitors. It will bring more people to the site, especially with the canal celebration. Hopefully groups would use the art studio; perhaps The Painted Ladies.”

Railroad stop

Thought has also been given the longer-term prospects of making Aptucxet a stop on the Cape Cod Central Railroad trips from Hyannis to Buzzards Bay.

The vegetation next to the rail bed along Aptucxet Road has been cleared. Rail excursion passengers in the future would be able to visit the trading post complex while the train proceeds across the canal to Buzzards Bay for the turnaround and then board on the return trip to Hyannis.

Barlow said work to date at the Aptucxet entrance has not pivoted on requests for Community Preservation Act funding. He said the society held fundraisers instead to help pay project costs.

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Upgrading Aptucxet: Restoration of Grover Cleveland’s train station continues

MEDFORD, Ore. -- One look at Rick Keesling's resume and you'll see that he has a long work history in a variety of jobs, but his love for and experience in restoration, is what really makes him stand out.

"I've worked in a restoration industry, restoring homes from fire and water damages, for the last 14 years," Keesling said.

He helps restore everything, from the home itself, to what makes it a home inside.

"It's the stuff inside that's so important, that's what makes a house a home." he said. "It's unbelievable to watch someone's face, the only thing they have left from a loved one is a photograph and 50 percent of it was burned in a fire and you were able to restore that and wrap it up like a gift and give it to them and watch the look on their face, it's awesome."

That's why it's his passion to make whatever disaster happened in your life, whether it be sewer backup, fire, water or wind damage, almost as if it never happened.

From rebuilding and restoring, to negotiating with insurance companies and everything in between, it's a challenge but he says it's so rewarding.

"Finding sources, people, working with adjusters to give you a little extra money it took to restore that table, that's the part of the job that's rewarding, challenging and fun," Keesling said.

Keesling has always had a drive to help and give hope to others. He's even volunteered for search and rescue.

"My wife says I'll be a Walmart greeter one day when I retire, I just like people," he said. "I want to be proud of who I'm representing and I want a company that does make a difference."

If you're hiring at your company and would like to find out more about Rick Keesling, check out his resume. You can also call our special KTVL Resumes phone number at (541) 245-5777 for

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Restoration is his specialty

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Martin Scorsese, speaking Wednesday night at the International 3D Society’s 3D Creative Arts Awards, requested that the industry restore classic 3D movies for Blu-ray. The suggestion was met with thunderous applause.

PHOTOS: Martin Scorsese On Set

Scorsese said he and his team screened many 3D movies as inspiration while working on Hugo. “My favorites are the old ones,” he said, citing as examples Warner Bros.' House of Wax and Dial M for Murder and MGM's Kiss Me Kate.

“There are so many. To see the films at home (on 3D Blu-ray) is going to be really remarkable. And to see them in their original form … seeing Dial M for Murder in 3D, in particular, is an entirely different experience.”

Scorsese noted that 3D films are spread around several studios. For example, Universal has It Came From Outer Space, Sony/Columbia has Man in the Dark, and Fox has Inferno.

STORY: Oscars 2012 Nominations Contenders' Reactions

During Wednesday's awards ceremony, a black tie affair held at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Scrosese received the Harold Lloyd Award for filmmaking — a fitting tribute as a scene in Hugo echoes Lloyd’s iconic performance in Safety Last. Hugo won awards for best live action 3D feature, best stereography (live action), and best 3D moment of the year.

"Art Form" was the theme of the 3D Society's awards, with numerous presenters and honorees discussing that topic onstage and off.

STORY: 'Hugo' Tops International 3D Society Awards With Three Trophies

“(3D) is on the verge of being recognized as a great contributor to cinematic storytelling — and that is what it is,” said Academy Award nominee Chris Miller, director of DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots, which won the trophy for best stereography in an animated film. “When we added it into any sequence in the film, it was about ‘how can we best (use 3D) to tell the story.' ”

Rob Legato -- the Oscar-nominated VFX supervisor on Hugo — accepted an award for the film, saying that Scorsese's direction of the 3D was to create “art as opposed a gimmick. … that turned into drama, and that drama turned into an art form that uses depth to tell stories in such a unique way.”

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Martin Scorsese Encourages Restoration of 3D Films for Blu-ray

One of Trolley Square mall’s main tenants, Restoration Hardware, is headed to City Creek Center, the new downtown Salt Lake City shopping center opening next month less than two miles away.

Restoration Hardware officials didn’t immediately respond to inquiries about the new store or its existing one at Trolley. But operating two Restoration Hardware locations — which sell pricey furniture, linens and accessories for the home — within such close proximity would be highly unlikely.

“We do know they are opening at City Creek, but we don’t have any confirmation on the timing or closing of the location at Trolley,” said Dawn Katter, Trolley general manager.

So far, the effects on Trolley of City Creek Center’s aggressive leasing efforts to fill 800,000 square feet of space may be limited to the loss of Restoration Hardware. Trolley’s other main tenants, including natural-foods grocer Whole Foods, which opened early last year, are locked into long-term leases.

Trolley also is anchored by Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and Williams-Sonoma. Pottery Barn doubled in size at Trolley in 2009, and Williams-Sonoma expanded in the mall in 2008.

By comparison, The Gateway shopping center in downtown Salt Lake City has lost several tenants in recent weeks, including children’s clothier Gymboree and apparel retailers Lane Bryant, American Eagle and Express, some of which appear headed to City Creek Center.

City Creek Center, between Salt Lake’s State Street and West Temple and 100 South and South Temple, will be an upscale shopping center owned and operated by Taubman Centers Inc. It’s nestled amid the larger City Creek project owned and managed by the development arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that includes offices, condominiums and apartments.

In September, Taubman released a list of more than two dozen tenants, including Tiffany & Co., planning to open in the mall, which will have about 80 stores and restaurants, led by retailers Macy’s and Nordstrom.

Taubman officials have said they won’t be releasing the full lineup of tenants until closer to opening day, March 22.

Many retailers and restaurants could justify locations in both City Creek Center and other malls such as Fashion Place in Murray because they are miles apart. Trolley Square and The Gateway would appear to be too close to City Creek for the same to be true.

Although no mall wants to see tenants leave, Eric Moldenhauer, general manager of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, said he doesn’t believe losing Restoration Hardware, which is in its own building outside the main Trolley mall, would have a huge effect on other merchants. Whole Foods creates a lot of cross-shopping opportunities, but the same can’t be said for Restoration, he added.

“To me, it wouldn’t be as big of an effect as you might think.”

More here:
Restoration Hardware to open in City Creek Center

ASPEN — A dilapidated house off Owl Creek Road that dates back to Aspen's early ranching days would be the focus of an extensive restoration effort as part of a development plan submitted to Pitkin County on Thursday.

Owl Creek Ranch homeowner James Gordon has proposed seeking the county's historic designation for the old house, built by William E. Stapleton in 1913, and its restoration. The application also proposes construction of a new, 5,750-square-foot single-family home on the 5-acre lot and the demolition of a vacant cabin that was to serve as worker housing but is no longer habitable.

Gordon is seeking the removal of a deed restriction on the lot that limits its use to worker housing. In exchange, he would either pay $489,525 into the local worker housing program or acquire a condo in the Aspen area that could serve as replacement housing for a local worker.

The Stapleton home, an improbable throwback to another era in a valley dotted with mansions, is just off Owl Creek Road and the Owl Creek bike trail, between Aspen and Snowmass Village, in plain view of passersby. Restoring the house to livable condition, for use as a caretaker unit, likely will cost more than $1.5 million, according to the development application. Also proposed is a plaque along the trail explaining the historical significance of the home.

The land it's built on was originally homesteaded by Marron Hugh in 1885, according to research by Denver-based consultant Lisa Purdy. No structures there date back to Hugh's ownership. Rather, the house was built by William Stapleton, son of Timothy Stapleton, who, in 1881, homesteaded in the area now occupied by the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport.

The lot is currently owned by the estate of Shannon Stapleton, from which Gordon would buy the property if the county approves the development plan.

Despite the home's serious state of disrepair, it is of historical significance, according to Purdy.

“I think it's terrific,” she said. “The fact that it goes back so many generations on that land and that we have family members still in existence today who can give me photos from an album is just amazing.”

The development application includes a photograph of Stapleton family members standing on the porch of the home shortly after it was built.

“It's amazingly intact inside,” Purdy said. “It was never updated, which is the kiss of death on these things.”

The first order of business if the development plan proceeds is shoring up the house, said Glenn Horn, the planning consultant working on Gordon's behalf.

“It is about 3 feet of snow away from being demolished,” Pitkin County Commissioner Rob Ittner said in October, when the contemplated historic site application came to commissioners for an informal review.

“That home has always held my imagination,” Commissioner Michael Owsley said during the October discussion. “To see it deteriorate to the state it's in now is sad. For me, the primary purpose is the restoration of a historic resource. I want that to occur.”

The cabin on the property, however, is in poor condition and not worth saving, according to consultants. Extensive alterations have undone whatever historical significance it had, according to Purdy, and it would be torn down under the proposal.

Commissioner Rachel Richards, however, voiced concern in October that a home that was supposed to house a worker as part of the approvals for the Owl Creek Ranch subdivision had fallen into disrepair and was uninhabited. Replacing the worker residence with a new one on the lot is an option, she noted.

The development application, after it is deemed complete by the county's Community Development staff, will be scheduled for first review by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

janet@aspentimes.com

Excerpt from:
Restoration proposed for historic Owl Creek home

by Christine McCarthy and Brandon Hartman

GATESVILLE - A local pastor is now in the Coryell County Jail for allegedly setting his mobile home on fire and killing his wife last March.

Coryell County Sheriff's deputies arrested 49-year-old David Keith Allen at 6:45 on Tuesday night for Capital Murder of his 54-year-old wife, Paula Diann Allen.

An indictment obtained by News Channel 25 states that David Allen used a flammable accelerant on an open flame to burn down the mobile home located behind his New Life Church of Restoration.

On March 22, 2011, David Allen called the fire department and said his wife was trapped inside their burning mobile home. He told investigators he had been sleeping in the living room and hopped out a window around 1:00 a.m. when he realized the fire had started.

Fire crews found the mobile home in the 4000 block of East Highway 84 completely engulfed and eventually found Paula Allen dead inside.

Paula Allen's best friend, Robin Tippit doesn't consider David Allen's arrest closure, but another part to a long road of healing.

"I loved David just as much as I loved Paula..." Tippit says. "I looked to him as my pastor and it's just hard for me to grasp and to comprehend."

Tippit recalls the tragic March day and says her wounds have never healed.

"We all gathered at the church, and, you know, it was true.  She was gone and it's been tough. It's been a hard - hardest year of my life, ever," Tippit says, in tears. "Hardest thing I've ever gone through.

Michael Stidham, former Associate Pastor at the New Life Church, says he and others from the church have been expecting Allen's arrest.  Stidham became suspicious of Allen's involvement in the fire that very night.

"He had his truck keys on him and his wallet on him. Yet, he was asleep on the recliner when the fire took place and he jumped out the window.  But he had all his stuff on him," Stidham says, adding that Allen's behavior in the following days made him ask more questions.

"If I lost my wife like that, I can't see how I could breathe, you know, live," Stidham says.  "Just the thought tears me up. And he handled it quite well. And I think that's why a lot of people at the funeral were like, 'This is very weird.'"

Stidham says Allen didn't grieve because he was supposedly celebrating his wife's life, but Stidham and much of the community thought his reaction wasn't that of a truly mourning husband.

After being asked to step down as pastor, Allen left the New Life Church and created Final Victories Ministries. A small handful of people from the ministry gather with him. One member says he and Allen's friends continue to support him and think Allen is innocent.

Stidham and other church members have drifted away from David Allen.  Many neighbors near Allen's new home say Allen was the talk of the neighborhood.

On January 21, 2012, Allen remarried a Gatesville woman, according to court records.

Paige Rowland, now pastor of the old New Life Church, which has since changed its name to Crossroads, says the fatal fire tore the church apart.

Of the arrest, Rowland says, "I think a lot of people are a little bit relieved. I think a little bit shocked.  I feel I can say that we've all cried out for justice."

In the meantime, the community remembers Paula Allen, "the backbone of the church," according to Stidham.  Tippit also calls her a "generous, loving friend and mother."

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Pastor arrested for killing wife in 2011 fire

01-02-2012 12:41 Cob blasting and restoration of a log home in Pennsylvania.

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Cob blasting to restore log homes by Blastmaster - Video

This is the second in a three-part series on domestic violence. Names of those abused have been changed.

The children were in bed and Charlotte Carroll was spending Christmas Eve assembling toys by herself. She had no clue where her husband was and didn’t dare ask.

Carroll would not have believed anyone who foretold she would be abused. Yet, she was for two decades. It’s knowledge that now helps her in her present role as director at Restoration of Hope.

Carroll, along with now retired Joyce Stewart, founded Restoration of Hope in 1997 as temporary housing for women and their children who have been victims of domestic violence.

“We give them referrals and options. They have to make the choice (to leave),” Carroll said. “We can’t make them leave. They have to want to better their lives. That’s why it‘s important for women who have been in their situations to be there to explain they are not alone.”

Lisa, an abused woman who sought help at the Stuttgart shelter, said the volunteers became her friends and helped give her hope for the future and regain her self-confidence.

Restoration of Hope is just one in a network of shelters throughout the nation that helps women in transition get to where they need to be. Carroll said they help women both locally and from across the nation get back on their feet once they leave, which includes going to court with them for support.

For Lisa, the non-profit shelter also helped clear any legal issues that occurred since she left her abuser. She said the hardest part once at the shelter was when she began searching for a place of her own and transportation. She was able to find a job after two days at the shelter.
Another important part of the shelter is preparing women to leave an abusive relationship.

“It’s the most dangerous time of the domestic relationship because when the perpetrator realizes she is leaving, they realize all they did before did not work and they will cry, beg and plead for them to come back,” she said. “He will make all types of promises—if drunk, go to AA, will get counseling—all the things she wants to hear and, most times, it will work.”

Carroll, who is the outreach coordinator/child advocator in Prairie County as well, said it works because when abused women leave, they are totally lost since they have not been making decisions or money for themselves. “They have lived in a survival mode,” she said.

The women feel failure at everything. The decision is not aided in the fact that most women in an abusive relationship will typically have three to four children. Carroll said, the perpetrator “will say no one wants you with all these children. He will threaten to call DHS (Department of Human Services) and report the woman as a neglectful mother.” If called, DHS will remove children if domestic abuse is found to be occurring since it is not only dangerous for the child, but a learned behavior.

It’s an experience that Carroll has lived through. The Atlanta, Ga., native began dating her now ex-husband when she was 19-years old. He was controlling, jealous of her relationship with family and friends and would get mad at the smallest things.

Their relationship worsened when he began taking drugs a year after they married. He began punching walls and eventually hitting Carroll and their children. The family moved to Stuttgart in 1976.

At one point, Carroll said she was going to leave and had her stuff already boxed up, however, “he pulled the box out of my hands, pinned me to the wall and said he would kill me.”

“Then he said he would kill himself and ran out the door. I heard a gunshot. It scared me,” she said. “I ran outside and he was standing behind the door laughing.”

She eventually left for good in 1984 with the divorce final in 1985 after her son told her he was learning Tae Kwon Do because “one day his dad was going to push him against the wall one time too many. He was going to be able to defend himself and me.”

It was then that Carroll realized that there would eventually be an altercation between her son and husband that would leave her son hurt, in jail or dead. She stayed with friends and, at one point, hid in a trailer at Reydell so he couldn’t find her. In the following months, she heard it all — he courted, begged and threatened to kill her — before he threatened suicide again over the phone and even shot a gun in a failed attempt to get her home.

He (eventually) called and told me he had left the state because he got drunk one night and decided he was going to climb on the roof and shoot me in the head when I left work, she said. He said only God had stopped him. So he left the state so he wouldn’t do that.
Carroll said he has since died. She and her children have forgiven him especially after learning that he had repented — after his death, they found his Bible open to Psalm 32.

It’s a life lesson that she has shared with fellow domestic violence victims well before the shelter opened. Now, she said her main goal is to give the women the tools they need to help themselves.

“At some point in time, they will get the strength and courage to get out and we want to be there,” she said. “If we only save one out of 14 people here, it will be worth it.”

Restoration of Hope has a hotline, of which the first question asked is “Are you safe?” If they are trying to leave, Carroll said they work with police to help meet the woman safely and take her to the shelter. Once there, the woman is treated for her injuries if needed, advised of the house rules and asked to write an impact statement on what happened to bring her to the shelter.

Carroll said it takes an average of seven tries for a woman to successfully leave, although they gain more knowledge and information of what they need each time. If a woman does go back, Carroll said they make sure she has a safety plan and an emergency plan — have a neighbor or friend call police if they ever see a certain object moved or in sight.

Safety measures are also in place at the shelter, which has had a perpetrator call and threaten them before coming in its parking lot before being scared away. Carroll said they also take each person’s word at face value. If they say they have been abused, they are given help. However, she said it does come out if they are not being truthful or, in fact, are the abusers.

To get help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1 (800) 799-7233. Locally, those being abused can call the Restoration of Hope Hotline at (870) 672-4341 or toll free at 1 (866) 884-4637.

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Restoration of Hope gives victims another chance at normal lives

KIAMA Council's plan to restore Barroul House as part of a proposed Kiama Hospital redevelopment has excited members of the community who have campaigned for decades for its restoration.

Kiama Council general manager Michael Forsyth said under the council's redevelopment plans, the house would take on a new role.

"If restored, Barroul House could become a cafe or common area, or office space for staff," he said.

Kiama's Tony Clapham took up the fight in 2006, concerned it would become a victim of "demolition by neglect".

Currently, metal poles support the rotting pillars lining the verandah.

Mr Clapham said he wholeheartedly supported the move.

"It's one of the most important historic houses in Kiama," he said.

"If the restoration is done by the council, it will be much more locally-minded than if the Department (of Health) did it - the more local, the better."

Jamberoo resident and Kiama and District Historical Society secretary Sue Eggins said despite petitions and meetings with state ministers, activists had achieved little success until now.

"The Department keeps fobbing us off," she said.

"It would be excellent if the council took it over."

Thomas Surfleet Kendall built the Georgian-style house from plastered basalt rubble in 1857.

He also moved his wife, Caroline, who was one of the legendary orphaned Rutter sisters, and their nine children into the house.

When their eldest two daughters died young, the Kendalls also raised nine of their grandchildren in the house.

The Department of Health bought the property in 1928 and from about 1930, it served as the nurses' quarters, the matron's residence, the hospital's physiotherapy department, home of counselling services, and now as hospital storage.

Kiama Meals on Wheels also used the building as its meal preparation headquarters, but mould and mildew forced the group out three years ago.

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Restoration campaign gains momentum