Cole-Diggs beautification

On August 21, 2008, Karl and Mike of the restoration department installed a new crawl space hatch in the courtyard of the Cole-Diggs house. The old hatch appeared to be pre- WW-II vintage, judging from it's old cut nails and the circular-sawn heart-pine construction. It had deteriorated very badly. It was no longer capable of holding paint, nor was it adequately supporting the masonry above it, as evidenced by the collapse of three of the interior bricks above it. The new hatch is all pressure-treated 3" by 9" pine, joined by mortise and tenon. Jon is still working at Smith's Fort. He has finished all of the exterior painting except for the cornice. He has also cleaned the garden fences, to give the plantation a clean, well kept appearance.