Week Three Midway

The increments of change are smaller from day to day now, but work continues on all three floors. The biggest change this week is the new roof which is scheduled for completion on Thursday. The white membrane roof will help to keep the parish hall cooler in hot weather. Improvements in the channeling of rain water and runoff from melting snow and ice are design to eliminate the problem of leaks in the spaces below.

Inside on the ground floor, the restroom enclosure in the southwest corner of the parish hall is being dismantled gradually. The shell will remain in place until the new ground floor restroom is completed and ready for use. But the closets and exterior paneling have been removed already.

In the basement, measurements and calculations are in progress for the start of construction of the new stairs next week. The original design had to be modified to accommodate a load bearing masonry wall that was discovered during the course of demolition. Other challenges include finding room for 2010 code compliant doorway height, sprinkler piping, plumbing and lighting fixtures in a space with dimensions designed in 1886. It's like finding room for five quarts of water in a one-gallon jar. As we prepare for construction of the new stairs, we have received lumber that will cover the "gap" created by demolition of the old stairway.

Parish Hall Renovation - Week Three

Demolition continues on the ground floor and the basement. All of the old ceiling plaster has been removed. The ceiling joists are in remarkably good condition. There is some deterioration of the brick on the south wall due to leaks from the roof. Those repairs will be completed before the interior walls are finished.

The radiators have been removed to allow access to the old wainscoting. Paint is being removed from the back sides of the raditors. They will be reinstalled after the walls and wainscoting are installed.

In the basement all of the walls on the west side of the stairway have been removed.

In addition to all of the activity inside the building, a new roof is being installed over the parish hall. The white material is reflective and will help keep the space below cooler in warm weather resulting in a small reduction of our energy use.

Parish Hall Renovation - Week Two Wrap-up

"Pardon our dust" is the theme for the end of week two. Removal of the parish hall ceiling plaster has coated the entire area in dust. Doors to the nave are baffled and a big fan sits in the west doorway throughout the day.

The original capitals and ceiling beam in the parish hall are now clearly visible. They are in remarkably good condition and will be incorporated into the new design.

Downstairs, demolition of the walls is nearly complete and preparation continues for pouring reinforced concrete floors. In the earth below the floor joists, we have found several more original nails of varying sizes. They are flat rather than round and have square heads. The smallest are about two inches long. The largest are about six inches long.

Removal of the basement walls has now revealed three original windows and a door opening in the southeast corner.

Week Two - Midway

The dust is flying now as the demolition crew remove the old plaster ceiling in the parish hall. A giant fan sits in the west doorway and blows dust outside. In the basement, the original wooden floor joists are being removed to make way for new reinforced concrete footings.

Removal of the old ceiling tiles and the framework that held them has revealed the original ornaments at the tops of the columns supporting the parish hall ceiling. Needless to say, we plan to keep these. They give us a hint about the greater level of formality that this room originally had.

Progress continues on removal of the old stairway. The walls along the sides of the steps have been removed, revealing our own "cupboard under the stairs." So far there's no sign of Harry Potter dwelling there.

The building work group meets tonight to talk about the discovery of original flooring and wainscoting and what might be done with those.

Parish Hall Renovation - Week Two Begins

Week two finds the crew working on the renovation with a number of questions to answer. Some of the surprises discovered during week one - like a load-bearing masonry wall where it was not expected - require adjustments in the plan. Others, like the original flooring and wainscoting on the first floor require a decision - what to keep, what to replace. The building work group will meet on Thursday of this week to talk about some of these issues.

Other matters simply require ingenuity - like fitting plumbing, wiring, sprinklers and ceiling into small spaces and making it look good.

The floors and walls in the basement have been removed and we've found some amazing things including original lath and plaster and a window. You can see the original dirt foundation between the floor joists in the basement. We've found strange, flat, squareheaded nails from the original construction. You can hold them in your hand and feel a connection with the people who created this building. They had many of the same experiences as we have had - the inspiration and energy required to take on such a project, the patience to work through difficulties and unexpected surprises and their belief in the importance of their mission.

Parish Hall Renovation - Week 1 Wrap-up

Week 1 of renovation work on the parish hall at St. Mary's has been completed. The crew got a remarkable amount of work done. The demolition in the basement is complete, revealing a number of structural surprises and challenges which we will deal with in the new construction. There was nothing dangerous, but we found additional floor tile requiring asbestos abatement and pillars where they were not anticipated.

An interesting fact about this project: as construction projects go, there are a remarkable number of women involved in this one. Our architects, Susan Richards Johnson and Julie Arntson, project superintendent Brook Eimers of J.E. Dunn and Stephanie Isaacson, proprietor of New Horizons LLC who did the hazardous materials abatement. One member of the demolition crew is a woman also.

Demolition continues on the ground floor level of the parish hall. The removal of two layers of flooring has revealed the original pine floor installed in 1887. We've also discovered original pine wainscoting on the walls. On the south side it has been badly damaged by water leaking from the roof and a fire in the basement about 40 years ago. On the north side, long stretches of it remain which were hidden under the synthetic brown paneling. The original pine has several layers of paint but we did fine one strip of the original stain and varnish that had managed to escape being painted over.

We had a great coffee hour in the nave on Sunday, April 18. Betty Herndon managed to present our usual generous offering of refreshments on the top of one 8-foot rectangular table. People seemed to stick around longer talking yesterday. The kids love running on the carpet runner on the center aisle and exploring the statuary and furnishings up close.

Parish Hall Renovation - w

Parish Hall Demolition Days 1 & 2

Demolition of the Parish Hall is officially under way. It began at 7 a.m. Monday, April 12 with the arrival of the Project Manager and Superintendent, Duane Krehbiel and Brooke Eimers of J.E. Dunn Construction. Contractors and laborers soon followed.

A lot of the first day was spent reviewing the plans and marking areas of the building and fixtures either for demolition or salvage. Evidence of anything actually being taken apart at the end of the first day was relatively small, but notes all over the building indicated "save" or "demo."

Removal of the linoleum flooring on the ground floor of the parish hall revealed a really interesting floor. It looks a little like a basketball court - not intentionally. According to our architect, Susan Richards Johnson this type of floor covering was frequently used in public buildings in the 1920s and 1930s. As the renovation progresses, it will be removed and replaced with oak flooring, but it was fun to see it this reminder of the days of Fr. Merrill or maybe even Fr. Stewart-Smith. Thomas Pain and Mary Ursula Miller probably walked on this floor.

On the second day a 22 foot dumpster arrived to hold debris from the demolition. With the 8 foot door open, it occupies a big space in the east parking lot. The crew started to fill it up that day.

As the basement restroom area was demolished, all kinds of little surprises were uncovered. The discovery of additional lower layers of floor tile that will have to be removed, columns where they weren't anticipated and all the strange surprises that go along with working on a very old building.