the college looks very old world, very european. i like to go when no one is around and just sit in the quad. (it's not so nice when the students are around as you can imagine). i have some great pictures of me and some friends back in the day hanging out there. perhaps one day i'll scan them and post them (if i ever hook up my printer/copier/scanner/fax machine).
i've seen the cannons. although i don't like weapons, they are rather cool in this state. non-functional that is.
Bringing Back The Big Guns
Trinity College Rebuilds Cannons' Carriages So They Can Return To Quad
By WILLIAM WEIR Photos by MARC-YVES REGIS ITHE HARTFORD COURANT November 15 2006
They played a role in bringing down the Confederacy, were present for an admiral's immortal words, and now Trinity College officials want to do justice to two Civil War relics. Two large and rather unwieldy relics, that is. Since 1950, Trinity College has owned two 9,000-pound cannons built in 1859 that were used on the Civil War battleship the USS Hartford. The guns are being kept outside the college's maintenance department while their carriages, which deteriorated in recent years, are rebuilt. Heading up the project is Mike Roraback, construction trades foreman with the buildings and grounds department, who expects to finish by the end of the January. Originally, the college was going to go to an outside contractor, but Roraback wanted a new challenge. "I've worked on 100 homes, but this is something totally different," he says.It took some time before he could start work because he first wanted the original plans for the cannons. He began by calling the U.S. Navy, where he was bounced from one department to another over several months. Eventually he was referred to the Smithsonian Institution, and another series of phone calls put him in touch with the people who knew of the plans. They sent them to Roraback.The carriages were first rebuilt in the 1990s, when the Navy League of the United States borrowed them for a ceremonial display. But instead of the original white oak, they used red oak, which proved to be poorly suited for outside wear. Roraback's restoring the white oak with help from his friends at Parkerville Wood Products in Manchester, who gave him a deal on the lumber. Though Roraback wants the carriages to reflect the architectural structure of the originals, there's always room for improvement. .........
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1 comment:
darn, it would have been nice to meet for coffee or tea!
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