We have a very exciting update regarding The Walt Disney Birthplace project . . . Phase One of the actual restoration has begun! We first reported about this project late last year. Since then, the momentum has finally begun to roll and a substantial amount of work is being done to this historic home.
The Victorian-style windows that will replace the existing modern hardware have been ordered. And the plans to restore, paint and seal the two street-facing sides of the home have been approved. The target date to finish this first stage is December 5th, 2014, Walt’s 113th birthday. That’s just over a month away!
For those of us who have been following the project since it was announced on Walt’s birthday last year, this enormous step forward is fantastic news. The house will soon look much more like the home designed and built by Elias and Flora Disney in 1893.
But – they still need all of our support to make it happen.
This past Tuesday, October 21st, The Walt Disney Birthplace launched a “Start Some Good” campaign to raise funds for this important first segment of the restoration. The goal is to reach $40,000.00 to complete Phase One (which includes removing all modern windows and replacing and relocating them with vintage appropriate hardware, siding repair and painting are also critical to protect the home through the harsh winter to come). Here is the link to the campaign page: http://startsomegood.com/WDB
On the evening of Monday, the 20th, they threw a “Let’s Start Some Good!” launch party at The Tam O-Shanter, Walt’s favorite restaurant, and by all accounts, it was an amazing evening! Disney Legend Alice Davis (costume designer for it’s a small world and Pirates of the Caribbean, and wife of Disney Legend Marc Davis) and Kathryn Beaumont (the voice of Alice in Alice in Wonderland, and Wendy in Peter Pan) were very special guests. They both spoke during the “Working with Walt” presentation, sharing some very amusing – and moving – personal recollections.
For this new “Let’s Start Some Good!” fundraiser, they are offering many of the same rewards they featured for the incomplete Kickstarter campaign last winter, like the beautiful original art created by Disney artist Karen Armitage; a collectible pin; and acrylic blocks embedded with pieces of the actual cedar shaking roofing material Elias originally installed.
Big news for those of you who were hoping to get a dedicated paver stone outside the home: that is also still available, and for a much lower pledge level: only $125.00!
They’re also including some cool new items this time: an O-Zell baseball cap, an O-Zell T-Shirt (And if you don’t know about O-Zell Soda, click here!), and the opportunity to sponsor a window, complete with a brass plaque featuring you as the donor. Two windows have already been sponsored by members of the Disney family, and Alice Davis is sponsoring a window in her and Marc’s name! Two additional windows have been sponsored by kind donors, leaving just 5 windows left for the public to get their name on!
Best of all, many items will be available in time to make great holiday gifts!
Walt Disney Birthplace Executive Director, Todd Regan, stated, “This is a perfect opportunity for Disney fans around the world to become part of the story as we preserve Walt’s birthplace. This quaint little house is literally where both the animation and theme park industries as we know them today truly began. We can take the empowering lessons of Walt Disney to children everywhere, but we need your help to do it.”
Todd recently recorded a segment about the Walt Disney Birthplace on the wonderful DIS Unplugged podcast with Tom Bell: Walt Disney Birthplace Podcast Download HERE
Again, we are overjoyed that this effort to save one of the world’s most important architectural landmarks is underway and we hope you are, too. Please join us in sharing the campaign link and/or donate in any way you can: www.startsomegood.com/WDB
The Walt Disney Birthplace foundation and CECCI are a California public benefit 501c3 pending federal status. Contributions are eligible for tax deductibility. The Walt Disney Birthplace and CECCI are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with The Walt Disney Company, Disney Enterprises, Inc., or any of its subsidiaries or its affiliates. historical reference and informational purposes.
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