Historic Structure of

Gosport, Indiana

Gosport Opera House Renovation

Gosport is a town in Owen County, Indiana, pop. 715. Here are some photos of the very extensive facade restoration John McFarlane made to the old opera house on the town's main street.

Writes Mr. McFarlane: "I enjoyed looking over your site. I own this building in Gosport. I thought that it may be of interest if you want to include photos and or text for your site. Look at the album and check out the photos toward the end which depict the facade restoration I undertook. If it helps inspire, then lets do it."

Congratulations to Mr. McFarlane on the remarkable work he has done with this building. He had a formidable job to get it into some sort of semblance of its original appearance. John had to remove stucco that was plastered over the original brickwork and repair other damage. At least the original storefront woodworking had not been removed.

These pictures give a fascinating look into the process of building restoration. We thank John McFarlane for offering these photos to the site.

All stuccoed and glass blocked. Front / Rear.

Rear of building.

Main Street, Gosport.

Early snapshots of streetscape.

Removing the first pieces of stucco.

Stucco all peeled off.

Kenny Moore, Mason. We began pointing brick from the top down and replaced many damaged bricks. Note that Cornice brackets have not yet been installed (replacements) and corbels are still shown shorn-off as we found them..

Pointing up the deteriorated mortar joints. Dave ponders the replacement of a missing keystone. It was lost sometime long ago.

Roof structure of main building.

Replacing the corbels. These had been shorn off in the 40s to make way for the metal lathe and stucco...

Facade restoration. Inside and out. I was replacing the 12' window jambs seen on floor in foreground. Jambs are 2x10 construction and strengthened the facade even more.