Flumerfelt Barn Receives Statewide Award
Michigan Historic Preservation Network Community Award, 2006
OTHS and Oakland Township representatives at the 2006 MHPN awards ceremony
The restored 1879 Flumerfelt Barn
A Statewide Preservation Honor
On April 21, 2006, the Michigan Historic Preservation Network presented the Oakland Township Historical Society and Oakland Township with a Community Award recognizing the preservation of the 1879 Flumerfelt Barn.
The 2006 Award
The award was presented during the Michigan Historic Preservation Network's annual preservation conference in Saginaw. The MHPN awards recognize significant achievements in the preservation of Michigan's historic resources.
Oakland Township Supervisor Joan Fogler and OTHS President Carolyn Dulin accepted the award with Ed and Marj Dunwoody and Judy Workings, chairperson of the Oakland Township Historic District Commission.
The ceremony was held at Saginaw's restored Temple Theatre. Among the preservation projects honored that year, the Flumerfelt Barn was the only barn project recognized.
A Community Preservation Project
Built in 1879 as part of an early Oakland Township farmstead, the Flumerfelt Barn faced demolition when its original property near Kern and Gunn Roads was scheduled for redevelopment.
OTHS, Oakland Township, and local volunteers worked together to dismantle the historic timber-frame barn and move it approximately six miles to Cranberry Lake Farm.
Under the direction of barnwright Steve Stier of Lansing, volunteers dismantled the structure and later gathered again to reconstruct its timber frame using traditional manual building methods.
"Moving this unique, historic barn turned into a community effort involving township officials, Society members and volunteers who all enthusiastically worked to make this project successful."
- Carolyn Dulin, OTHS President, 2006.
Preservation Through Cooperation
The project brought together township officials, OTHS members, volunteers, and residents. Participants learned traditional timber-frame construction techniques, including the making of wooden pegs by hand for the reconstruction of the barn.
After reconstruction was completed, the barn was dedicated to Oakland Township for use by both the Historical Society and the Parks and Recreation Commission as a meeting and event facility.
Today, the Flumerfelt Barn stands at Cranberry Lake Farm Historic District, 384 W. Predmore Road, as one of the most visible examples of community historic preservation in Oakland Township.