Saxonburg receives hefty grant for restoration of wire rope workshop
Saxonburg is one step closer to realizing its goal of restoring its founder’s original workshop to its former glory.
On Thursday, Dec. 21, the borough learned that it was awarded $150,000 through Pennsylvania’s Local Share Account grant program, to be used in the long-sought-after restoration of John Roebling’s original wire rope workshop on Rebecca Street.
“It’s great news for saving that piece of history,” said borough manager Steven May.
The Local Share Account grant distributes funds through gaming revenues to support projects “in the public interest” throughout Pennsylvania.
While the award isn’t quite the full amount of what Saxonburg asked for, which was $252,000, it will go a long way toward covering the estimated costs of repairing the workshop.
For nearly a decade, the foundation of Roebling’s original wire rope workshop — where the borough’s founder pioneered the invention that would one day hold aloft the Brooklyn Bridge — has slowly been sinking into the ground.
In March 2023, the borough commissioned a study which estimated that it would cost roughly $250,000 to fix the building’s structural issues. Since then, the borough has sought donations from the community, along with state grants, to offset this cost and begin work on the restoration project before the building falls into even worse shape.
With the infusion of grant money, combined with donations from the public, the borough is nearly at the target.
“I believe there’s about $92,000 in the bank. That means we’re at $242,000,” May said. “We’ve been approached by a couple of organizations in Butler County that may be able to help but I’m not ready to name names yet.”
May is hoping that the borough can start work on the restoration project in early 2026, with the project possibly being put out to bid in February. However, he believes that the total cost of restoring the workshop will exceed even that initial estimate.
“There’s more than just construction costs involved,” May said. “Now I’m looking at permitting, which is probably going to be around $15,000. And that’s your building code kind of stuff.”
For now, the borough is keeping a close watch on the workshop to make sure that heavy winter snowfalls don’t put any additional stress on it.
“We have one of them big winter rakes to keep the snow off of the roof,” May said. “It’s actively being monitored. I certainly don't want a foot of snow sitting on top of that thing.”
Another consideration for the workshop restoration, once it gets underway, is the fate of the miniature replica of the Brooklyn Bridge which is currently attached to the workshop. The bridge, which was originally constructed as a parade float in 2000, is also structurally deficient and badly in need of repair.
Unlike the workshop, the bridge replica does not qualify for historical preservation grants. This means that money for restoring the bridge will have to come purely from fundraising.
“It’s not eligible for any grants, because it’s not a historic structure in any way,” May said. “But it’s definitely a part of Saxonburg and we want to keep it.”
The borough is hoping to move the mini-bridge to a spot outside of the Saxonburg Museum, which is also located at Roebling Park.
Brooke Wamsley, the organizer of the “Save the Bridge” fundraiser, says that if insufficient funds are raised for the bridge, it would have to be disassembled and put into storage while the workshop is renovated. Her grandfather, Ralph Henderson, was one of the three who originally built the bridge replica for the Butler County bicentennial parade in 2000.
“It needs to move to its new location next to the Saxonburg Museum,” Wamsley said. “I am going to be fighting to prevent it from being stored, as it will likely never come out of storage. People have been donating to move and rebuild it, not store it.”
