2020 was a very strange year, affecting nearly all aspects of the Engine Shed life. Fortunately, we were able to finalize the most crucial repairs of the shed’s buildings. On Monday, 21^st December 2020, Voivodeship Office of Historical Monuments Protection in Łódź and the board of PARE approved the first stage of repairs of the roof of the Shed’s former office building.

Despite our initial budget and plans to start with the most damaged half of the roof, the final refurbishment covered around two-thirds of its surface. The scope of work was also much broader than in case of the nearby former storage building. The whole office building is covered in tile roof mode of a poor quality concrete tiles. All of them had to be thrown away and replaced with a proper ceramic tiles. During the repairs, lasting over couple of weeks, close to 15 thousand tiles has been laid on the roof. All tiles have been rescued from the demolished warehouse build during II World War at the Łódź Olechów station.

The continuation of the works till the mid-December was possibly thanks to an exceptionally warm weather and surplus financial assets collected over the year. We hope that the scope of work done will stop the further deterioration of the building. As expected the cost of the repairs reached quite high amount – 120 709,52 PLN. The council of Łódź Voivodeship supported us with the amount of 52 500 PLN, the rest of the cost was covered from our own assets, including the money form 1% of the income tax (ca. 37 thousand PLN).

At this point we decided to sum-up costs of all building repairs since the Association took over the shed and were quite astonished that we are close to reaching a total amount of 1.4 million PLN.

On Tuesday, 17th December, a voivodeship’s conservationist representative inspected the repairs of the old water tower. The repairs of the roof and securing of the crumbling wall was completed by the company Marbudex from Skierniewice. The task was accomplished excellently – our contractor took care to recreate the characteristic woodwork of the roof. Next year, we will be requesting for further funds to continue the renovation of this building.

The total cost of the work was 44 159,68 PLN. The City of Skierniewice supported the works with the amount of 25 000 PLN and the remainder was covered from PARE’s assets.

We have been waiting for this moment for years. With the first days of December the building company Marbudex started the first stage of renovation of the old water tower. After the building of the bigger water tower closer to the station the building was later adapted for a bath house for the crew of the Shed. Over the years the building was abandoned and started to pose a danger to the neighbouring tracks. For several  years in a row we tried to find a funding for an emergency repairs. At last this year the City of Skierniewice supported us with the amount of 25 000 PLN. Thanks to that we will be able to complete the most required repairs – removing the flaking plaster from the side of the track and reconstructing the part of the roof.

On 29^th October an inspection of the skylight repairs above stands 4, 5 and 6 was conducted by the representatives of Voivodeship Conservationist. The repairs were completed by the company ‘Marbudex’ at the total cost of 129 000 PLN and were financed from the following sources:

• Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (60 000 PLN),
• Marshal’s Office of Łódź Voivodeship (45 000 PLN),
• own assets of PARE (1%) and crowd-funding (24 000 PLN).

The scope of the repairs was expanded thanks to the donation of construction glass by the Skierniewice branch of company Piklington. The additional cost of installation was covered form the 1% of income tax.

We are still before the next building activity which is the first stage of renovations of the old water tower. It is still possible to support us via the crowd-funding website:

https://zrzutka.pl/7ek6z5

or with a direct transfer to our bank account:

52 1240 6218 1111 0000 4617 3535

After 3^rd November we plan to present the initial report from the crowd-funding and start sending the souvenirs to our supporters.

On Friday, 16th November, a conservationist’s inspection of the repaired sections of roof above stands 21, 22 and 23 took place. The works completed by the building company Marbudex were worth total of 94751,49 PLN.

We were supported with the grant of 61600 PLN by the Council of Łódź Voivodeship as a part of public activity Revitalization and adaptation for museum the Engine Shed Skierniewice – emergency repairs of the roof above stands 21 to 23 of the engine shed from 19th century. The required initial assets in value of 20000 PLN were covered by our partner Freightliner PL. The remaining required cash was covered from the 1% of the income tax.

The unexpected renovation of the part of the roof above stands 12 and 13 is completed. On Monday, 27^th November, the works were acknowledged with the participation of the representatives of Łódź Voivodeship Conservationist Office, which provided the extra budget for the renovation. The building company “Marbudex” again reached our expectations and completed the extra works according to the plan. The subsidy for repairs was worth 22 000 PLN and required own capital of 11 000 PLN. As we the association’s cash box is now empty we are still collecting the remaining amount also via crowdfunding:

On Monday, 18^th September, an official inspection by conservationist took place at the renovation site of the old pump house. This year’s works sponsored by the Council of Łódź Voivodeship (26 250 PLN) covered the reconstruction of the half of the roof and preparation for further works of the second half. A total cost of the works, completed by company “Marbudex” from Skierniewice, amounted to 43 013,21 PLN (including own assets from 1% of income tax for 2016).

In the beginning of August we started renovation of the oldest building in the Shed’s complex – the pump house which was serving the Skierniewice railway station since 1880. Renovation works are sponsored by the Council of Łódź Voivodeship and funds from the 1% of income tax. Works will be carried out by company “Marbudex” from Skierniewice and will involve rebuilding of the damaged roof.

On Tuesday, 8^th November, a conservationist inspection of the first rebuilt part of the roundhouse’s skylight was conducted. The task of completing the rebuild appeared to be very tricky and required a lot of organizational effort. It was also a big technical challenge to our contractor, company “Marbudex”. Yet, the works reached the finish and now the roof above stands 1 to 3 is complete and can successfully protect against elements our most valuable exhibits: steam engine class Ol49-4 and battery unit 090 802Ma “Wittfeld”

The rebuild works were completed thanks to the support of Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, transportation company Freightliner PL and the 1% of income tax.

Currently, we are still looking for assets to complete the repairs of last two parts of roof cover. At the moment we managed to collect 12 thousand PLN, but we still require at least 4000 PLN to complete at least half of the remaining roof cover repairs.

At last, after many weeks of formal agreements, we started the overhaul of the skylight on the roundhouse. Thanks to the support of Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the transportation company Freightliner PL, the skylight will be brought back to the useful state above the stands 1 to 3. First, the metal frameworks will be cleaned and painted with anti-corrosive paint. Next a new reinforced glass will be fitted.

For the time of the works we reserve the right to exclude this part of the roundhouse (including the stand with “Wittfeld” Battery Motor Unit) from sightseeing. Sorry for inconvenience.