Signal Mountain Lions Paul Jensen, Bill Leonard, Ralph Mann and Bruce Bishop take a break from working on the blacksmith shop at McCoy Farm and Gardens, which the club is renovating as its legacy project in honor of Lions Club International's 100th anniversary.
The old blacksmith shop at McCoy Farm is being reconstructed by the Signal Mountain Lions Club to be used as an educational resource and workshop.
The old blacksmith shop at McCoy Farm is being reconstructed by the Signal Mountain Lions Club to be used as an educational resource and workshop.McCoy Farm and Gardens will soon have an operating blacksmith shop forge thanks to the Signal Mountain Lions Club, whose members have been working to renovate the farm's old blacksmith shop. Now about 80 percent finished, they expect work to be complete in the next four to five weeks.
In honor of its 100th anniversary this year, Lions Club International, which uses "We Serve" as its motto, asked all the Lions Clubs across the world to come up with a community legacy project involving something physical that will last, said Paul Jensen, a volunteer at McCoy and Lions Club member who's leading the local project.
Members of the Signal Mountain Lions Club intend for the shop to be used as an education tool offering blacksmith demonstrations, as well as serving as a workshop to be used by volunteers maintaining the property.
Club members originally planned to restore the farm's existing blacksmith shop building, which Jensen guessed was built sometime in the 1930s-1940s, but found that it was too run down. The floor was rotten, but it was filled with old farm artifacts, such as plow parts and chains, and contained the remnants of an old workshop. They saved those items, and also salvaged most of the building materials and the original blacksmith forge, he said.
Choo Choo Forge, a local blacksmith club that meets at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, is providing blacksmith expertise as the local Lions restore the original forge, Jensen added.
In December of last year Lions demolished the building, aside from the chimney, and poured a concrete slab that they then built the shop over. Local architect Bob Franklin, a member of the McCoy board, helped with the concept of the shop, which uses the same silhouette as the original building with about 8 feet added in the back.
"We tried to keep the same profile and aesthetics," Jensen said, pointing out how they installed the siding vertically to make it consistent with the surrounding buildings.
They also used a tin roof similar to those of other buildings on the property, and took care to keep everything as close as possible to the original. A birdhouse that was nailed to the side of the building was removed, repainted and rehung in the same spot; and the door to the shop, which based on its hardware and glass panes appears to have been taken from an interior doorway inside the McCoy home, was saved and reinstalled on the new structure, said Jensen.
The Lions Club provided all the labor for the construction, with 24 members putting in more than 800 man hours so far. Funding came mainly from McCoy Farm and Gardens, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with some help from the Lions, he said. The project could not have happened without the help of McCoy board members, said Jensen, including the technical guidance of Charles Adams, design assistance from Anne Leonard and help from site manager Andy Jones.
At the McCoy Farm's Memorial Day picnic, a blacksmith demonstration was held using a portable forge brought in for the day.
"It was a great hit with the kids," Jensen said, adding that they had around 30-40 people huddled around the demonstration for four or five hours that day.
TV shows such as The History Channel's "Milwaukee Blacksmith" and "Forged in Fire" are bringing more attention to the art.
"There's a lot of interest in learning the basics of blacksmithing," said Jensen.
McCoy Farm and Gardens is at 1715 Anderson Pike. The park is open to the public Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1-5 p.m. this summer.