Earlier this year, Sinclair Hamilton gave town officials a bit of news that the historic Bowles House along the C&O Canal could possibly be reopened to public visitation with limited hours after inspections had been done at the site.
Those inspections have been done and from the looks of it, Dan Murphy said the Bowles House won’t be inviting people in until next summer at the earliest.
In June, Murphy told town officials the house has fallen into disrepair and the Historical Society has been trying to find a way for the C&O Canal National Historical Park do some maintenance, otherwise the house would deteriorate like old buildings do.
He said the Historical Society was ready to enter into an agreement with the National Park Service to open the Bowles House on a very limited time frame.
photo by Geoff Fox/The Hancock News
Citing not have enough manpower, Murphy told town officials about the Colonial Dames of America who keep the Abner Cloud House in Washington D.C. open one day a month, which is enough for the National Park Service to keep that building open.
Murphy said in a recent inspection of the Bowles House, the Park Service found a moisture problem in the floors which have started to rot.
“There’s not a safe room for us to walk into to look it over,” Murphy said, repeating what he was told by the National Park Service.
It will be fiscal year 2027 before anything can be done at the Bowles House, Murphy said.
The Park Service maintenance person Murphy was talking to mentioned there had been budget cuts from the current administration to all the park and there isn’t enough money to do anything.
Murphy told town officials there had been plans to do some pickin’ on the porch at the Bowles House with support from both the National Park Service and Hancock Historical Society but the issues at the house put a stop to that.
“It’s not going to be happening this year at all,” Murphy said.
Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr. said hopefully when 2027 rolls around, the Park Service won’t be saying the problems are too bad and they can’t do the repairs.
“The longer they put it off, the worse it’s going to get,” he said.
