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Exterior restoration of the
church was completed in the fall of 2002. This is what it accomplished:
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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.
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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.
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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:
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Huge pieces
of the canvas ceiling are gone, having torn and fallen, exposing the brown
horsehair and straw insulation.
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Plaster
crumbles from walls, arches, and around windows, hopelessly damaged by
moisture and humidity.
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The walls are
badly in need of painting, having last been painted in the 1970s.
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The worn
wooden flooring is paper-thin in spots.
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An
inadequate, outdated electrical system presents a fire hazard.
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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
- Upper level apse west side transept and gables are now complete,
including roof tile, flashing, gutters, etc.
- The intermediate towers are completed, except for the ridge cap.
- The ambulatory roof tile is finished.
- New wood sheathing has been installed at the eaves of the
ambulatory.
- Scaffolding is down from the apse wall north transept gables.
What’s in Progress
- Roofing and flashing on ambulatory.
What’s Next
- Masonry at the transept gables will be cleaned.
- Bovard Studio will be on site to restore the rose windows the week
of May 20.
- Sacristy windows are due back; the date is unknown.
- The balcony scaffold will be taken down and moved to the north and
south gables.
- American Roofing will finish the tile at the sacristy rooms.
- Tile will be removed from the gables and side aisles.
- Tile will possibly be removed from the nave.
- All downspouts will be completed on the west end of building.
Other Information
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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