An old engine barn -- virtually the only surviving element from the 1880s mill town of Falk -- will soon begin a new life as a public interpretive center in the Headwaters Forest Reserve.
The project was funded by a Headwaters grant, and the contract for the work went to the National Forest Service's Mountain Heritage division, directed by Doug Stevens.
The five-week project started in early May, when a team of government staff and private volunteers began dismantling and relocating all usable parts and pieces of the 40- by 40-foot barn across the Elk River and down the road to its new site.
The team also included local Bureau of Land Management workers, retired union carpenters, and a tree-rigging crew from North Carolina, which set up a high lead cable to transport lumber and parts across the river. Also helping at various stages in the work were students and faculty from the historic preservation programs of Colorado Mountain College and College of the Redwoods, as well as four retired carpenters from Wyoming.
"This progress could not have happened without the help of these old, seasoned carpenters," Stevens said.
After the second week, the reconstructed barn had been framed and vertical board-and-batten siding and metal roofing were being applied.
Despite the building's state of severe disrepair, the project reclaimed 60 to 70 percent of the barn's original materials into the new building, which demonstrates how well redwood persists in this climate. To fill in the voids, redwood of the same dimensions was added.
The structure was originally designed to house two steam engines that could be driven into work stalls where mechanics crawled under and around them in a sheltered environment.
While the barn has not been reconstructed to the exact details of the original, it is close enough. And although it lacks its original tracks and "pits," the finished barn has steel inlaid into the solid floor planks that are accurately spaced to represent the historic tracks.
Originally there was also no concrete slab, yet for modern use, deep pits in the floor of the building would be unsafe and limit the potential of the structure to serve as an interpretation center. Steel was also added to meet today's seismic codes.
Plans for the reconstruction were prepared in Colorado, and it was clear none of the visiting crew had ever worked with redwood before, and certainly had never dismantled and reconstructed a historical redwood building. Their simple fascination and regard for the wood was plain to see.
Not all of the redwood from the original barn could be used in the reconstruction. The excess will be used to make interpretive displays, window shutters, benches, ramps, and miscellaneous site necessities to complete the entire scope of project. A better fate than sending it to the dump.
In its new location, the barn will soon serve as an interpretive and educational center for the reserve. Since the completion of the project, the BLM has sought input from the public and other local agencies on working out the exact details of its use. Results still haven't been concluded at this writing.
In its heyday, Falk was a company town with a cookhouse, post office, several houses, a general store and a dance hall. Its mill closed during the Depression, and by the 1950s it had become a ghost town.
TAKE A TOUR OF FALK: The Eureka Heritage Society will have a members-only tour of Falk on Saturday. For information on becoming a member and joining the tour, call 445-8775 or go online to www.eurekaheritage.org .