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Exterior restoration of the church was completed in the fall of 2002. This is what it accomplished:

• The roof is waterproof again, protected by new impermeable coverings, new flashing, and perfect, unbroken clay tiles. The gutter downspouts that were once enclosed inside walls, where they couldn’t easily be checked for leaks, have been moved to the exterior.

• The masonry—cleaned, tuck-pointed, and sealed—glows with a renewed radiance. Gone are layers of grime that accumulated over the decades, as well as unsightly white markings that resulted from an earlier attempt at masonry repair.

• Over 100 stained-glass windows have been painstakingly cleaned, repaired, restored, and reinstalled with new watertight frames.

The Sisters of St. Benedict made the decision to delay interior restoration of the church until sufficient funds were available to complete the work.

These are the problems that interior restoration will address:

• Huge pieces of the canvas ceiling are gone, having torn and fallen, exposing the brown horsehair and straw insulation.

• Plaster crumbles from walls, arches, and around windows, hopelessly damaged by moisture and humidity.

• The walls are badly in need of painting, having last been painted in the 1970s.

• The worn wooden flooring is paper-thin in spots.

• An inadequate, outdated electrical system presents a fire hazard.

• An ineffective air handling and temperature control system allows extremes of temperature and moisture that continue to damage the ceiling and walls.

The sisters consider the church “The Center of Our Lives.” They gather there three times daily to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and for Mass. It is there they gain spiritual sustenance.

The church is also an architectural and historic treasure. It is a popular attraction for visitors from near and far, including tour groups, architectural and history students, and individual tourists.

The monastery church is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated an Official Project of Save America’s Treasures.

You’re invited to visit the monastery and see the church in person. Or take a virtual tour here.

What’s Been Done

• The bell tower roofs have been completed.
• The transept gable roofs have been completed.
• The nave has been completed.
• The lower level north side aisle has been completed except for some flashing.
• Scaffolding has been installed in the bell tower.
• All except four windows have been installed. The four are the oculus skylight in the Blessed Virgin Room and three windows in the bell tower. One window was missing but has now been ordered.
• All masonry work has been completed except for the outer wall of the colonnade under the terrace deck.

What’s in Progress

• Repair of the bell tower ceilings.
• Roofing on the north intermediate tower roofs.
• Removing scaffolding from the south side aisle.

What’s Next

• Repair of the bell tower ceilings should be completed 8/1.
• All windows will be installed next week.
• Gutters on the south side will be completed.
• Masonry work at the lower colonnade below the terrace will be completed.
• Plumber will do storm drainage.
• Scaffolding will be down for concrete cutting by 8/5 or 8/6.
• Scaffolding will be removed from the inside of the bell tower on 8/1.
• The flat roofs inside the bell towers will be installed.

Other Information

• Exterior restoration should be finished within three weeks. The project is on schedule as planned by Realm Construction.
• Early next week the project will be ready for an addition of a radio tower in the bell tower. This will be installed before installation of flat roofing.
• A problem with opening a few of the sacristy windows is being worked on. At the construction meeting, there was discussion about the ease of operation, or lack of, for the windows in general. The site superintendent, Frank Ford, noted that some resistance on the extension arms of the windows is needed to resist movement of the windows by the wind. The architect, Dave Allen, asked about the problem of having some cam locks out of reach. Jim Wolfe, director of plant and facilities, said he was developing at tool to allow these to be operated from the ground.
• The architect attempted to do an exterior and interior inspection of the bell towers; however, scaffolding did not allow safe passage in street shoes. Therefore, a cursory visual inspection was made from the nearest point possible. No defects were found. Inspection of the bell tower interior will be made on the next site visit.

What’s Been Done

• The roof tile on the bell tower and the matching tower is complete.
• The south side transept gable has been mortared
• About 50% of takeoff has been accomplished on the north nave.
• An additional 52 windows have been reinstalled.
• The window frames of the confessional and the clear glass in the south sacristy have been installed.
• Core drilling has been completed for gutters and the colonnade.
• Gutters have been completed on the upper level of the south side. The lower gutter has been installed on the north side. Low flashing has been installed on the upper level of the north side (but the gutter has not yet been installed).
• Scaffolding has been cleared in the area from the gables to the west end of the building.

What’s in Progress

• Mortaring is being done on the north transept gable and north nave.
• Tile is being replaced on the north side nave.
• The masonry of the towers is being cleaned.

What’s Next

• The oculus in the ceiling of the Blessed Virgin Room will be installed.
• Scaffolding will be installed for the bell tower deck repair.
• The bell tower roof slabs will be repaired.
• Scaffolding will be removed and flat roofs installed in the bell tower.
• Roofing work on the side aisle will begin.
• Installation of the remaining windows will be completed.

Other Information

• Work is six to seven weeks to completion.
• Work areas are being checked before scaffolding is removed. (High areas won’t be accessible without scaffolding.)
• The contractor did extra barricading and consolidated storage in preparation for the monastery Summer Social that was held June 29–30.
• The architect conducted a partial punch list walk of area accessible from the current scaffolding, including the south nave and side aisle. He noted that the blind window near the top of the side aisle wall visible from the scaffold stair was poorly caulked. The superintendent explained that this window was caulked expediently and temporarily because there is more work to do to the window when Bovard Studio returns. At that time, it will be caulked properly. The architect also noted a white patch on the jam brick of another window going approximately three-brick high. The superintendent noted that this was likely plaster dust that was dragged across the jam during window installation and will be easily cleaned off.

What’s Been Done

• The roof tile is finished on the ambulatory and apse sections of the church. About 90% of the scaffolding is down in this area.
• The masonry restoration is complete on the transept gables.
• The restored rose windows have been installed. Scaffolding has been removed from this area.
• The roof of the stair turrets has been completed. Scaffolding has been removed from this area.
• The roof tile has been removed from the north and south side aisle roofs. The roofing underlayment has been installed.
• The oculus stained glass (skylight) in the Blessed Virgin Room has been removed for restoration

What’s in Progress

• The flat roof near the stair turret on the north side of the church is being installed. Scaffolding will be installed on the top of the side aisle roofs in preparation for work on the nave roof.

What’s Next

• Tile will be installed on the east side of the sacristy rooms and adjacent areas.
• Tile removal from nave will begin.
• Bovard Studios will return to clean the small kites on the rose windows from the interior.
• Scaffolding will be installed at the bell towers.
• The crypt windows will be installed next week.
• Gutters will be removed at the nave and side aisles.
• Masons will clean the walls of the nave and side aisle within the next two weeks.

Other Information

• There was a big gain in the schedule since the last report. The project is on or slightly ahead of the contractor’s schedule (not the original schedule).
• No additional leaks have been observed.
• Some dry plaster has fallen in the north stair tower from the wall and/or ceiling surfaces. The cause may be vibrations generated by reroofing. Plaster in this area has effloresced (changed to a powdery state).
• New downspouts will be located on the short towers on the east face of the church. They will spill to the flat roofs over the cloister room entries.

What’s Been Done

1. Upper level apse west side transept and gables are now complete, including roof tile, flashing, gutters, etc.
2. The intermediate towers are completed, except for the ridge cap.
3. The ambulatory roof tile is finished.
4. New wood sheathing has been installed at the eaves of the ambulatory.
5. Scaffolding is down from the apse wall north transept gables.

What’s in Progress

• Roofing and flashing on ambulatory.

What’s Next

1. Masonry at the transept gables will be cleaned.
2. Bovard Studio will be on site to restore the rose windows the week of May 20.
3. Sacristy windows are due back; the date is unknown.
4. The balcony scaffold will be taken down and moved to the north and south gables.
5. American Roofing will finish the tile at the sacristy rooms.
6. Tile will be removed from the gables and side aisles.
7. Tile will possibly be removed from the nave.
8. All downspouts will be completed on the west end of building.

Other Information

1. The rotunda windows still seem to be leaking. Bovard will be asked to address the leaks immediately. Also the south end of the ambulatory in the crypt has been leaking at the floor during recent rainstorms. It is not known whether this water is coming up through the floor via ground water or a spring or if the existing storm sewer is backing up. The changeover of all roof drains will continue. If the problem persists, alternate sources will be reviewed.
2. There was discussion about the fact that several exit doors from the church are being blocked by scaffolding. The suggestion was made to put up signs directing persons from the blocked doors to alternate exits.
3. There was discussion on how to terminate downspouts temporarily, given the fact that storm sewers will not be in place at the time that the downspouts will be run all the way to the terrace deck. It was decided to do a 90-degree temporary elbow at the bottom of the downspout and allow the water to drain to existing area drains in the terrace deck.
4. Revised plumbing drawings were submitted to Realm Construction that contain revisions for the storm drains discussed at previous meetings. It is likely that these drawings contain pricing changes that will affect the preliminary budget.
5. There was discussion on the type of roofing to be used for the flat roofs in the bell tower. Modified bitumen roofing has been quoted, however felt-backed, single ply EDPM roofing membrane had some advantages. The two types will be compared to determine which will be used.

© 2009 Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana