A home inside the Don Robinson State Park, 9275 Byrnesville Road, in Cedar Hill will be rebuilt as a three-season building to house informational exhibits.
It was once the home of the late Don Robinson, a St. Louis-area businessman who donated the land where the park is located to the state.
Greg Combs, regional director with Missouri State Parks, said masonry repairs on the lower level of the home will begin soon. Construction on the second wooden level will begin by late summer.
Combs said the restoration project will cost $275,000.
“The house has been there a long time,” he said. “It has a lot of sentimental value to everybody who enjoys coming to the park. We quickly recognized that, operationally, the house can serve as an interpretive/contact station for people who come to Don Robinson State Park.”
Robinson, who died in 2012, bequeathed 843 acres of land he owned to the Missouri State Parks division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The donation included the land, his house and a trust fund to help maintain the area. The park features two hiking trails and a picnic area.
Combs said the house has deteriorated over the past 12 years.
“The house was in really poor shape,” he said. “It was missing siding, the windows were leaking, the roof was leaking – just really, really bad shape. It was in such disrepair, and it was our assessment that it would have been too complicated to go through and make repairs to all the areas that needed repairs. We decided what made the most sense was to start over. Let’s build something that replicates what Don had here, but make sure it has a new roof, windows, and siding – not rotting material, but new material.”
Combs said the stone structure that makes up the lower level of the house was constructed before Robinson acquired the land, and he added a second level to the stone structure sometime during his lifetime.
The restoration project will be completed in three parts. The second level already has been removed from the stone structure, Combs said.
In the second step, masons will tuckpoint, or replace the mortar between the stones, on the ground level, which will provide the strong, stable foundation needed to hold the second wooden level, Combs said.
The masonry repairs will be contracted out and completed over the next couple of months, he added.
In the third and final phase, the state park’s in-house construction crew will complete framing and carpentry work on the second floor by late summer, Combs said.
“The mission of the state park system is to preserve and interpret Missouri’s finest examples of natural landscapes and cultural landmarks, and provide recreation that is suitable for those places,” Combs said. “I think this is a really good balance, where we’re trying to preserve what I’ll call the architectural style that Don came up with.”
Once completed, the structure will house information for park visitors and exhibits explaining the natural history of the area and Robinson’s cultural significance, Combs said.
According to the state park’s website, Robinson regularly appeared in late-night commercials for his “Off” cleaning product, which he created in the 1950s.
Combs said the house is closed to the public while construction is completed.
He said information about the restoration project is available at the park.
“Within the next few months, people are going to see this project taking shape,” he said. “That will be helpful for people who are concerned if they’re ever going to see the developments. If someone were to visit the park today and walk up the sidewalk toward the house, they will see these two poster boards mounted right on the chain link fence that describe the project.”