BILOXI, MS (AP) — Beauvoir is under attack again.
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina caused millions of dollars in damage at the last home of Jefferson Davis, and seven years after the National Historic Landmark was restored, termites, water damage and rot are eating into some of the exterior boards.
The Sun Herald’s Mary Perez reports crews will begin setting up scaffolding across the front and sides of the house in the next few weeks. They'll be working to repair or replace the steps, the porch decking and the rim joists under the porch, where the damage is most evident.
Leroy Waller, an assistant to the executive director at Beauvoir, said work should be done by Christmas.
Waller said representatives of the state Department of Archives and History and of Albert & Associates, the Hattiesburg architectural that oversaw the restorations, met Thursday at Beauvoir to discuss the situation.
The house remains open for tours, although guests must enter by the back door. The porch is closed and Waller said its banisters will be removed while the work is done. All of the rim joists under the edge of the porch will be replaced with treated marine-grade wood, he said.
"The house is solid," Waller said. "There's no danger."
He blames the damage mostly on the home's waterfront location.
Ken P'pool, MDAH deputy state historic preservation officer, said the problems began two years ago. At that time, the former management at Beauvoir noticed the decking on the front porch was deteriorating.
Apparently there was Formosan termite damage there, he said.
Instead of applying for the required permits from MDAH for the repairs in late 2013, the Beauvoir management covered the porch with new decking, discarding original hardware and lopping off the bottoms of the original shutters in the process, he said.
"They spent a good deal of money and it did not solve the problem," P'pool said. "It just covered it up."
Rainwater ponded and damaged the structural members of the porch and the columns, he said.
"We've been working with them for a year now," he said of the current management. Instead of replacing the wood with Mississippi pine, he said old-growth cedar will be used.
"Certain pieces of it need to be done very quickly," he said.
The priorities and cost are being reviewed and he said the MDAH board will meet Tuesday and could approve the repairs then. The house is not in danger, he said, "but the porch is in very poor shape."
The galleries, or front porches, Katrina tore away were rebuilt in 2007 during the $3.9 million restoration, as were the supports, columns and roof framing.
Wood porches on the Biloxi Visitors Center, Grass Lawn in Gulfport and other buildings constructed or repaired along the coast after Katrina also had issues.
FEMA and MEMA historic-preservation money was used in the restoration of Beauvoir and the home reopened June 3, 2008, the 200th anniversary of Davis' birthday.
