Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Part 2: Invisible Restoration
Ellen F. Stoner, AIA, and Jennifer McElroy, CAC Docent, dive into the vital work of "invisible restoration" at the historic Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
We're doing a straightforward restoration and preservation. You're not tearing down a big chunk of the building or anything, you're just trying to preserve it and make it better. Right, if we had torn something down, then it would have gone in front of the commission and the city's preservation ordinance would have been applied. People have used, like, dental tools—oh my gosh—to take out mortar because the joints are so tight.
It's almost like a little archeological—it very much can be—dig as well. When we see cracks or displacement, we know that it's an issue that's happening behind, right, and so we need to really figure out what that is and how best to fix it.
So much of design is just invisible and kind of behind the scenes, and yet it's vital so that we can see the outward design, the outward prettiness of buildings. Yes, and particularly with historic preservation, because you're dealing with such important buildings and they never had those components. So it's, how do you really integrate them and not change the appearance of the building, right, but, you know, give it the longevity and the resilience that it needs to move into the next century.
Part 2: Invisible Restoration
Ellen F. Stoner, AIA, and Jennifer McElroy, CAC Docent, dive into the vital work of "invisible restoration" at the historic Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
We're doing a straightforward restoration and preservation. You're not tearing down a big chunk of the building or anything, you're just trying to preserve it and make it better. Right, if we had torn something down, then it would have gone in front of the commission and the city's preservation ordinance would have been applied. People have used, like, dental tools—oh my gosh—to take out mortar because the joints are so tight.
It's almost like a little archeological—it very much can be—dig as well. When we see cracks or displacement, we know that it's an issue that's happening behind, right, and so we need to really figure out what that is and how best to fix it.
So much of design is just invisible and kind of behind the scenes, and yet it's vital so that we can see the outward design, the outward prettiness of buildings. Yes, and particularly with historic preservation, because you're dealing with such important buildings and they never had those components. So it's, how do you really integrate them and not change the appearance of the building, right, but, you know, give it the longevity and the resilience that it needs to move into the next century.
