By Gaius Hennin, P.E.

Governor William A. O'Neill Performing Arts Gazebo in Sears Park in East Hampton, CT

We recently traveled to East Hampton, Connecticut to raisethe Governor William A. O'Neil Performing Arts Gazebo in Sears Park, locatedright on Lake Pocotopaug. Mr.O'Neil, an East Hampton native, was a popular governor of Connecticut from 1980-1989.

The gazebo bears his name in hand carved letters with flatblack relief in crisp contrast to the western red cedar timbers. In addition to the excellent naturalrot resistance provided by the cedar, all the timbers are coated with ourfavorite oil-Land Ark Exterior.

The structure of the building is complex-what appears to bea simple hip roof from the exterior proves to be much more interesting as youenter the building and look up. The hip rafters are actually carried by twoclear-spanning, flat topped trusses, similar to what you would see flanking arailroad bridge. The two trussesrun parallel to your entrance into the building, providing a clearly definedline of sight out to the lake. It is hard to decide whether to look out andadmire the view or to look up and admire the view. The building tie-downs arestainless steel threaded rods concealed inside the 10x10 posts, attached toboth the post and the concrete slab with acrylic based adhesive. The roof sheathing is a nominal 3x6 endand edge grooved plank, made from three plies of Douglas fir laminated totogether, capable of spanning twelve feet. This product eliminates the need forjack rafters, resulting in a clean roof structure, consisting of only principleand hip rafters.

The architect for this project was Cheryl Newton ArchitectLLC (www.cnarchitect.com) from Glastonbury, CT and the general contractor wasScope Construction (www.scopeconstruction.com) from New Britain, CT.

If you find yourself in East Hampton, stop in and take alook-the gazebo is hard to miss when you walk or drive in. Park hours are 7AM-8PM.

If you are interested in having us design and build a gazebofor you, call or stop in at our shop-we are always happy to talk structure withyou.Governor William A. O'Neill Performing Arts Gazebo Searspark in East Hampton, CT