Completed in 1905, the McMillan Sand Filtration Site represents a milestone in historic water purification in Washington, D.C. Above grade, silo-styled bins deposited tons of sand into twenty below grade filter cells to purify water from the Potomac River. By the late 20th Century, however, this system was obsolete and the site sat largely dormant since 1985.  The 2021 Reservoir Park Recreation Center project brought an opportunity for adaptive reuse of the property.  

Four decades of deferred maintenance gave rise to deterioration and structural failure of the wooden portal doors to the original sand bins. During initial inspection, each set of doors was determined to be nearly unsalvageable due to missing structural components. Worcester Eisenbrandt’s objective on this project was to evaluate the existing condition, restore when possible, or faithfully reproduce the components of the wooden doors to present their original appearance.

Before any carpentry work, WEI conducted a detailed condition assessment for each of the twenty portal doors, while taking paint samples for analysis, and salvaging remaining hardware. Paint analysis was performed in-house and presented to suppliers for matching.  The original hardware was severely deteriorated.  Multiple strap hinges were used to create one full profile for replication.  WEI worked closely with a fabricator to create the historic shapes in period-appropriate materials.

The shop carpenters carefully disassembled fourteen doors and rebuilt them with a mix of historic and new components. On-site installation involved tailoring each door to its idiosyncratic opening.