Preserving Fraunces Tavern
by Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli
In honor of Preservation Month, Education & Public Programs Coordinator Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli sits down with Facilities & Operations Manager Eric Sussman, who maintains 54 Pearl Street, about his love of woodwork, construction, the Colonial Era, and his time at Fraunces Tavern Museum.
One of the best parts about working on such a small staff is that everyone wears many hats and is supportive and hands-on with each other's projects. I've had the privilege to work with Eric Sussman, Facilities and Operations Manager, over the years. I was able to sit down with Eric (after a few days of following him around the building and helping to fix some stuff myself) and talk about his love of woodwork, construction, the Colonial Era, and his time at Fraunces Tavern Museum.
Eric joined the team in 2017 after returning from being a stay-at-home parent for the last six years. "I wanted to get back into working and fixing things. Fixing things and working with my hands is second nature to me," he said. He admits he was attracted to the history of the building and knew there was something special about it. By the next week, Eric was walking around the five-building complex, ready to get started. One of the biggest lessons he's learned is that change in an old building comes very slowly, and you don't always see a difference immediately. He noted, "I've learned that my success is not through the end results, but the work that it takes."
One of the most unique shared experiences by staff members on their first few weeks of working at Fraunces Tavern Museum is getting lost and finding your bearings. The museum, made up of five separate buildings that were combined, makes up a quarter of the Fraunces Tavern Historic Block District. In addition to knowing what building you're in, Eric needs to know about the different basements, attics, and rooftops too! "It was very overwhelming,” he said, “I felt so lost. I couldn't remember which basement had the boiler for the first two weeks."
Eric was born and raised in San Francisco, California but moved to Philadelphia when he was in high school. It was around this time he was introduced to the Revolutionary War. He admits he wasn't immediately taken with the historic city, noting that, "If you live in Philly, you can't NOT run into the revolutionary war - especially school trips that always end up at the Betsy Ross House." In college, Eric started as an archeology major, but that didn't stick for long. He described going out on a summer dig in Martha's Vineyard and realized he didn't have the temperament for that kind of work. By the next semester, he set his sights on an English degree.
Eric maintains the five-building complex, including maintaining several of the museum's systems, like the HVAC. One of his most unusual responsibilities includes monitoring any cracks in the building. Built in 1719, 54 Pearl Street is one of the oldest structures in Manhattan, built on the earliest landfill in New York City. One of Eric's jobs is to bring 21st-century skills to preserve the 18th-century structure.
54 Pearl Street's basement's foundation is made up of native Manhattan schist, and the exterior yellow bricks, which date back to 1719, were laid in a mortar of sand and crushed oyster shells. It's not uncommon for Eric to discover oyster shells in the basement after a rainstorm.
One of Eric's most impressive projects was building the reader rail in the Long Room in 2017. "It was really fun but challenging because you can't create a lot of dust in a period room," he laughed. The month-long process required Eric to study 18th century design, carve each piece of lumber in his on-site workshop, and install the railing piece by piece.
He admits now when he visits family in Philadelphia, he feels a much more intimate connection with the historic buildings, noting, "I get excited to see those buildings now and walk around and admire the architecture. I try to study as much as I can so I can try to apply it to the tavern." One of his favorite family visits was to the Millard Fillmore house in East Aurora, New York. He admitted, "I look at this much differently now. I was amazed at their preservation efforts. I get excited to see how other institutions handle their 21st-century upgrades. I walk around to look for HVAC systems."
What's next for Eric? He's hoping to reschedule the 54 Pearl Street Façade Project, slated to begin in the spring of 2020. The project will help preserve the structural and historical integrity of the windows, which are in need of repair. "When you're working with original elements, you have one chance to get it right,” he mused. “You have to respect the materials and understand how to mend and repair them. It's not an easy job." The windows on 54 Pearl Street have not been repaired since the early 20th-century preservation project, over 100 years ago led by the Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. and architect William H. Mersereau. Although most were replaced during this project, Mersereau indicated that a handful of window frames on the lower floors were original to 1719.
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the museum was unable to move forward with the project when we reopened in September 2020 because of financial hardships.
