Can This Barn Be Saved Workshop to Be Held at the Old Cushman Farm on June 23

The Michigan Barn Preservation Network will hold a workshop titled “Can This Barn be Saved” on June 23 from 9:00 - 4:00 at the old Cushman farm - 3360 Clark Rd., Bath (DeWitt Township), one mile east of Gunnisonville. The current owners of the barn are Jeff and Shannon (Balzer) Proctor.  Shannon is the great great granddaughter of the barn's original owners, George and Ellen Cushman. 

Participants will do an inspection and analysis of the barn's condition and make recommendations for  rehabilitation.  The workshop teaches the participants how to evaluate barns that are being considered for rehabilitation.  Registration is $10 for members of the Michigan Barn Preservation Network (MPBN) and $40 for non-members which includes a one year membership to the MBPN.  Participants should bring their own sack lunch.

Observers are welcome and can enter the barn for a half-hour tour at 11:00 and 3:00. They may also bring lawn chairs and watch the workshop participants from the lawn through the open barn doors during some parts of the workshop.  There is no charge for observers.

This barn is an extremely rare example of typical mid-19th century Michigan barn form and function.  Though it is typical of its time, it is rare in that it is virtually unchanged from the time it was built in 1868.  The east bay has the original horse stalls and feeding mangers with floor and hay loft above, all intact.  The center bay, typically called the "threshing" or "drive" floor, has doors on both the north and south walls.  This configuration is sometimes called a "team barn" as the horse teams were able to enter and exit directly through the barn doors on opposite sides. An unusual and rare feature of this barn is a cantilevered purlin support on the west drive floor bent.

The Lansing Chapter DAR has taken this on as their 2012 Historic Preservation Project and will provide refreshments. Also present will be the Gunnisonville Community Preservation group who will have a display about Gunnisonville and the efforts of the group.

To register for the workshop, contact Steve Stier at (517) 648-2933 or Stevenstier@gmail.com.  To be an observer contact Johanna (Cushman) Balzer at (517) 484-3273 or rjbalzer.1@gmail.com.