Stone & Lime completes historic restoration of the Easton Building

Boston, MA Stone & Lime Historic Restoration Services has completed a multi-year restoration of the historic Easton Building in downtown. Designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, it is considered one of the first steel-framed skyscrapers in the city. Stone & Lime was hired by the National Park Service to oversee this complex project which also incorporated a cathodic protection system, believed to be one of the first of its kind in a historic building of this size in the city. 

The Easton Building stands in the city’s financial district at the intersection of State St. and Devonshire St., adjacent to the Old State House. It also sits near the Freedom Trail and a nearby T stop, which creates high volumes of daily pedestrian traffic. Constructed in 1902, the Easton Building is an 11-story steel and masonry building with 37,070 s/f of gross building area. The building is listed as a Historic Building in the Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. 

After years of growing concerns about the structural integrity of the building’s exterior and potentially impacting the high amounts of foot traffic below, Stone & Lime was hired to oversee a multi-year restoration. The scope of work included removal, restoration and reinstallation of 60% of the granite cladding stones; repair of the masonry backup, steel anchors, and structural steel repairs; complete repointing of mortar joints; restoration and repainting window frames to their original colors; and an entire rebuild of a past repair to bring the northeast corner back to original specifications. Additional restorative work focused on impacted areas, such as the replacement of the 28 ft. vaulted sidewalk along Devonshire St. and of the structural steel support system and reinforced concrete sidewalk over the basement vault. 

In addition, the team installed a cathodic protection system, a significant innovation for historic buildings. A cathodic system operates by forcing electrons onto the metal structure to prevent corrosion in the structural steel framing of the building. By applying an external current to the metal framing of the Easton Building, the cathodic protection system prevents it from rusting. This system is typically used to apply a barrier of protection on submerged or buried metal structures but fulfills the same purpose inside the building’s walls. 

Stone & Lime performed a complete mechanical system upgrade, converting the original steam system to hot water. The team also oversaw replacement of the basement heat exchanger and generator, radiators and controls on 11 floors, ground-level fuel system, and rooftop generator radiator. 

Stone & Lime is a trusted partner to private and public clients tasked with preserving our nation’s most significant structures. Recently completed projects include the Crane Estate’s Great House in Ipswich and Victoria Mansion in Portland, Maine, and the team is currently overseeing the restoration of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse in the Outer Banks along with a multi-phase restoration program at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas National Park. 

“Stone & Lime was excited for the opportunity to tackle this complex restoration of an important historic skyscraper in downtown Boston,” said Chris Dabek, vice president, Stone & Lime. “Working within an active space with high amounts of pedestrian traffic at all times added a layer of complexity that our team was able to plan for, and the innovative approach to preserving the structural integrity of the building via the cathodic protection system is an innovation we hope to bring to other projects in the future.”