What was your greatest professional accomplishment in 2014? - Michael Norman of Abbot Building Restoration

Our most notable project for 2014 was the restoration of the exterior façade of the Philips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum in historic Salem, Mass. The project consisted of repointing all of the brick masonry, removal and replacement of the ornamental brownstone above the first floor window sills using fabricated precast colored stone to match the brownstone, and historic restoration of the wood windows. The most significant feature of the project was the complete disassembly and replacement of the entrance portico. The deteriorated fluted columns and capitals were removed, matching columns and capitals were fabricated, new perimeter dental band stones were installed, and the portico was rebuilt to match the original.