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History center helps Pittsbughers preserve heirlooms

September 18, 2014 | In the Press

From Pittsburgh-Post Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/2014/09/18/History-center-helps-Pittsbughers-preserve-herilooms/stories/201409180146)

Pittsburghers never move and rarely — if ever — throw anything away, the president of Heinz History Center observed Wednesday.

So, they often want to know how to best preserve family heirlooms such as artwork, a Bible, photographs or a treasured piece of antique furniture, said Andrew E. Masich, chief executive officer of the Strip District museum.

Now, they can get answers at the Museum Conservation Center, a newly renovated Strip District building connected to the Heinz History Center by a pedestrian bridge built over Mulberry Way.

The conservation center opens to the public Saturday with a two-hour seminar on how to preserve birth certificates, passports, family letters and other documents. In November, the public will be able to see open storage of history center objects on the building’s fourth floor.

Mr. Masich emphasized during a news conference that conservators, who will be available to consult with people by appointment and for a fee, will not restore objects because that requires making them look like new.

Objects will be conserved, which means that they have been cleaned, stabilized and preserved for future generations. The cost of such work can range from $100 to more than $1,000 based on the object’s condition and the amount of work needed.

“We want to preserve the historical as well as the aesthetic integrity of the piece,” he added. “The goal is not to make it look like new again.”

Located at 1221 Penn Ave., the nine-story structure was built in 1917 for the Marietta Chair Co. With an interior of reinforced concrete and a brick exterior, it offers 55,000 square feet of storage, Smithsonian-quality lighting, pest and temperature controls plus security.

More than 32,000 artifacts in the Heinz History Center’s collection are stored there, including a blue-and-white bumper car from White Swan Amusement Park and the wooden sleigh the notorious Biddle brothers used to slide across wintry Western Pennsylvania after escaping from the local lockup. The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is storing some of its collection in the building and another local museum is negotiating to lease space there, said Betty Arenth, senior vice president of the Heinz History Center.

On Wednesday morning, textile conservator Nancy Boomhower displayed a colorful silk “crazy quilt” that once had holes in its fabric. She spent two months conserving it with delicate silk fabric and thread and also sewed a new magenta silk lining on its underside. All of the work was done by hand.

Paper conservator Wendy Bennett displayed old photographs that had curled up because of exposure; others were pasted into scrapbooks with clear tape that had since yellowed. Tape, she said, should never be applied to photographs because when it is removed, it skins the photograph.

To schedule an appointment with a conservator, send an email to Barb Antel, conservation services manager, at bjantel@heinzhistorycenter.org or call 412-454-6450.

A two-hour workshop from 10 a.m. to noon will be held Saturday. It will focus on preserving birth certificates, passports, family letters and other materials. Cost is $35 for nonmembers and $30 for Heinz History Center members.

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