By: Joshua Vanjani
Posted In: News
Photo credit: salve.edu
Wetmore is abuzz with hammers. Originally the carriage house for William Shepherd Wetmore’s antebellum villa Chateau-sur-mer, the building will soon house the departments of art and cultural and historic preservation, and a Macintosh computer lab.
After the work to restore the building to its original grandeur is completed, Salve Regina “will have a facility that no undergraduate and few graduate programs in the United States can match,” says Dr. James Garman of the Cultural and Historic Preservation Department. “The most important thing is there’s better instructional space for these departments, but the second part is it creates opportunities elsewhere on campus,” Garman said. With all the digging, one would think many artifacts would be found. In Wetmore, a shoe was found in one of the walls, but not much has been learned about it. All in all it hasn’t been “one of ‘those’ projects,” according to Garman. Tradespeople of all varieties are taking part in the reconstruction, including carpenters, electricians, masons, and painters. But however difficult the reconstruction is proving, Bob Murgo of Ferrara & Associates believes “dealing with the architects, the municipals, the city permitting, things of that sort,” provide the greatest challenge. “The actual construction physical part of it I find to be very challenging at times, but not as difficult as one might think.” While Murgo and his crew complete the reconstruction, professors from the Art and Cultural and Historic Preservation Departments are busily preparing to inhabit Wetmore next semester. Amidst boxes piled high and items destined for packing, Dr. James Yarnall sat in his Mercy Hall office Friday afternoon just before the start of finals. An art historian, Yarnall had much to say about the history of Ch
