In early April 2024, Victoria Mansion hosted the first in a series of paid preservation trades training, taught by preservationist John Leeke, author of Save America’s Windows.
The purpose of this training program, focused on window restoration, is to train practicing tradespeople in the special knowledge required to preserve older and historic wood windows. More information about this inaugural workshop is available in our 2023-24 Annual Report (read PDF online here).
For years, preservationists have lamented the shortage of workers skilled in the special methods and techniques required to work sensitively on historic buildings. While this problem can’t be fixed overnight, we firmly believe that knowledge sharing will be part of the solution.
This pilot training is the first of an annual series of preservation trades workshops designed to provide specialized training to expand the pool of skilled tradespeople qualified to work on historic properties. Victoria Mansion plans to offer these opportunities on an ongoing basis – expanding both the number apprenticeships created, as well as the number of preservation specialties offered.
John recently posted a video of one of the training sessions on his YouTube page. Watch it here!
