Institutions

Tailoring solutions for the challenges facing institutions.

For many institutional campuses, maintaining older buildings is an ongoing and extensive effort. Lead paint can be found in virtually every building constructed prior to 1978, and the historic buildings at the Walker Center in Auburndale were no different.

The Walker Center in Auburndale, MA.

Founded in 1867 as a home for the children of missionaries, the Center has grown into a vibrant setting, providing hospitality to scholars and students of theology from abroad, hosting conferences and retreats, and offering bed and breakfast accommodations.

Walker Center exterior window with peeling paint

Typical of older properties, this window needed not just lead paint removal, but Alpine’s historically appropriate restoration techniques.

After the lead abatement is done, Alpine’s painting crews complete the project.

Along with repairing and painting the exterior of the main buildings, the Center undertook a lead paint abatement project. Because the work included residential units where families with children under the age of 6 would reside, Massachusetts’s law required a Lead Paint Letter of Compliance. This certifies, at the end of the project, that the lead hazards were addressed and that the home is safe for children.

The Walker Center turned to Alpine to handle the scope of this complex project. It would involve myriad details such as window stripping and restoration, window replacement, removing lead from detailed woodwork, and applying liquid encapsulants to selected surfaces.

Alpine was uniquely equipped to work both with the Center and the Auburndale Historic District Commission to follow guidelines and gain all the required approvals. Adding to the challenges, much of the work had to be done in areas that people would continue to occupy. Careful scheduling and aggressive project management by Alpine were essential to getting the work done within 3 months—all without impacting ongoing events or creating hazards for any of the occupants.