Major progress has been made by the National Museum of Bermuda (NMB) to waterproof, stabilise and save the Casemates Barracks and Upper Ordnance buildings. This is thanks to funds raised by the Museum’s The Future of History Campaign, which raised $10M for education, operational stability, and expansion. Allocations include supporting the first phase of expansion at Casemates to preserve the historic buildings for future, innovative Museum and education uses.
Originally built in the 1830s as a barracks for the men manning the Royal Naval Dockyard fortifications and ammunition store houses, the Casemates complex has played a significant role in 200+ years of local and global history. The buildings and tunnels that comprise the site are exceptional records of 19th century architecture and military technology. The thick limestone walls of the buildings are bomb-proof, and the casemated roofs were false targets for incoming attacks. The buildings once housed the Scottish “Black Watch”, British military officers, Canadian Navy and incarcerated men when it served as Bermuda’s maximum-security prison from 1961 to 1994.
Left abandoned in 1994, natural forces—wind, rain and invasive vegetation— have wreaked havoc on the buildings. Since 2006, the Museum has carried out pre-restoration work on the property including clearing invasive vegetation and debris and cleaning up the property thanks to teams of community and corporate volunteers; documenting the buildings using a 3-D laser scanner and archaeologically recording secret tunnels, historic features and old roadways; and photographing and documenting the artwork on the walls of the buildings from the prison era. In 2013, the Government of Bermuda transferred Casemates and its adjacent fortifications to the then Bermuda Maritime Museum, creating the National Museum of Bermuda.
Elena Strong, NMB Executive Director shared, “It is the Museum’s mandate to save, preserve and repurpose the historic buildings under its care for future use and future generations. We are committed to historic preservation and reimaging derelict buildings as public resources. Restoring the Casemates complex is a major undertaking. I’d like to thank all the volunteers who have put in thousands of hours of dedicated pre-restoration work, and to our recent partners and donors to The Future of History Campaign for funding the capital investments necessary for saving and stabilising these historic buildings.”
With an injection of philanthropic support, the National Museum was able to start major restoration work early this year. The first task on hand was preventing further water ingress into the barracks building which was caused by a failing roof. Significant progress has been made: an asbestos asphalt layer covering the entire 10,000 square foot roof was carefully removed revealing the original large, 1.5-inch-thick Welsh slate slabs that covered it. These slabs and the roof have been photographed and documented by Museum staff to record the historic construction techniques. To waterproof the roof, an impermeable membrane and six inches of concrete were laid with expansion joints and venting. In addition to the work on the Barracks, major roof work was also carried out on the Upper Ordnance Yard buildings. The roofs are now free from invasive plants, watertight and gleaming white.
The Casemates work is being overseen by Bermuda Project Management Limited, with work carried out by Island Construction, Crisson Construction and Gray & Co. The Government of Bermuda assisted with the cost of the disposal of the asbestos.
In the new year, more restoration work will continue, including pointing of the roof parapet; fixing damaged chimneys; adding roof access doors; removing invasive plants from the face of the building; adding new water overflows and drainage systems; fixing damaged historic walls on the property; and eventually sealing up the building to allow drying out.
The Museum has also engaged KPMG to conduct a feasibility study and create a business plan to ensure the viability of the long-term plan to repurpose Casemates into a research institute. The vision is to create an international hub for Atlantic World Studies and create partnerships with universities and institutions to engage in scholarly research and education programming, providing higher education learning opportunities for local and international students.
The Museum has saved prison-era furniture: a bunk bed, door, desk, toilet and other small artifacts that will be preserved in their collection. Ms. Strong shared: “As we work to restore and repurpose these historic structures, we will not forget the many past lives of Casemates. It is important to us to ensure that all histories – distant and nearer past – are preserved and shared. Our team aims to record oral histories from those who had relationships with Casemates as a prison in the coming years to add to the historic record”.
NMB Advancement Director Katie Bennett shared: “Have you worked on the Casemates project? Please email me at advancement@nmb.bm so we can ensure your contributions are recognised. We are also looking for submissions to our Museum Memories page: www.nmb.bm/memories so if you have photos or stories of Casemates work, we encourage you to submit them!”
The Museum encourages those interested to follow their progress on The Future of History webpage: www.nmb.bm/campaign.
