Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the historic Friedens Evangelical Church in Port Washington, Wis., was rebuilt following a devastating fire in July 2002. In a reconstruction effort valued at just under $1 million, the church was meticulously restored by its members and the Kelmann Corp. of Wauwatosa, Wis., a local restoration firm.
Restoration or reconstruction following any type of peril requires the efforts of many individuals with different areas of expertise. When the projects involved are historical buildings with centuries of significance, the work is that much more painstaking, requiring the efforts of artisans and restoration professionals alike.
Friedens, founded in 1854, was the first Protestant church in the area. Although originally of Lutheran denomination, its affiliations changed several times over the past century, until it became an independent, non-denominational church in 1993.
Started by a lightning strike, the fire went unreported for several hours due to a monitoring system failure. The result was extensive damage to the sanctuary and its beautiful stained glass windows. The balcony, a number of valuable church artifacts, and a pipe organ that dated back to 1915 suffered both smoke and water damage.
Workers carefully sifted through the debris to see which items could be rescued and reused. Parts of the existing altar were salvaged to be incorporated into the new one, four bronze light fixtures were saved, and an original oil painting illustrating the ascension of Christ was carefully removed and sent out to be restored. The panes of broken glass from the stained glass windows also were salvaged for use in the refurbished windows. Once everything salvageable had been removed and inventoried, almost two-thirds of the building was stripped down to its original frame and the rebuilding process began.
One challenge facing Kelmann was the need to rebuild the historic building in such a way that it maintained its architectural details, but also met the congregation's current ministry needs. The congregation was asked for a wish list of items that they would like to see incorporated into the new design. Among those were a more user-friendly atmosphere and layout, access for individuals with mobility challenges, and a new audio-visual system.
Kelmann developed a new floor plan that changed the orientation of the sanctuary 180 degrees, while providing the space for AV equipment. A combination of pews and chairs offered a more flexible seating arrangement that could be reconfigured as necessary. The choir was relocated to the chancel area, providing more space than the original choir balcony.
Although as much of the woodwork from the original church as possible was reused, a great deal of the project required the creation of new millwork to match what had once existed. The hand-painted stained glass windows were releaded, repaired, and reinstalled, preserving both their historical and sentimental value. By reusing the existing glass, the conservator was able to save the church at least $45,000, as only missing pieces needed to be replaced.
The end result was a sanctuary that retained the reverent and traditional charm of the 103-year-old church, but a design that met the needs of the church today.
St. Hyacinth
The previous year, Kelmann had tackled the restoration of St. Hyacinth Church, a 120-year-old structure in Milwaukee, Wis., that was severely damaged during adjacent construction in the area. In this case, a multi-year underground project for the city of Milwaukee involved digging a 30-foot wide and 60-foot deep tunnel intended to redirect storm and sewer water to help create a cleaner Lake Michigan and to improve the quality of the city's water supply.
The vibrations from the work caused the interior walls and ceilings to shift and pull apart, leaving gaps in some areas up to two inches wide. As the trench stretched out in front of the church, the vibrations from sheet piling, excavation machines, and water pumps caused the building to crack substantially.
Ultimately, under the constraints of the continuous pumping of sub-soil and silt by the city, the church and its surrounding streets and sidewalks began to sink and lean. To prevent further damage, the entire southwest corner of the church had to be supported by shoring, scaffolding, and telescopic braces. Thanks to these early efforts, only 50 percent of the church's walls and 20 percent of ceilings required repair later.
The foundation was already fragile since the rubble stone walls did not have footings or defined mortar joints. As the excavation continued, the water table dropped, causing the clay beds to dry out and further reducing the building's stability.
Although the excavation was delayed, the city managed to continue with its project. The church structure continually moved, requiring constant monitoring and support for approximately one year. Geotechnical exploration determined the amount and locations of the ground loss, and Kelmann staff concluded that a compaction grouting system would be the best way to stabilize the shifting ground. Caissons were installed to bedrock around the perimeter of the church and concrete grout was injected into them to ensure permanent stability. The process involved raising the caissons and injecting more grout until they reached a point of refusal.
Other restoration efforts included the mending of exterior brick, stone, concrete, woodwork, stained glass, gutters, and interior walls and ceilings. The stained glass was salvaged from damaged window frames and reworked to fit the settled window openings. The church had more than a dozen painted wall murals, but the bracing resulted in only one mural's requiring repair. Amazingly enough, the original painter of the 1930 ceiling art was still alive and able to advise on the materials he had used and what would be required to restore the artwork. The costs were reduced and history was saved by these graces.
The restoration of the St. Hyacinth church was a successful project that prevented further damage to the structure and restored it to nearly its original state. It also was an effort to manage restoration costs and keep them to a minimum. For both the self-insured church and the tunnel contractor's insurer, this was a huge undertaking. Kelmann even worked with the tunnel contractor's insurer in the hope that the St. Hyacinth's insurer would later be able to subrogate and recover its money.
Patricia L. Harman is editor-in-chief of Cleaning & Restoration.
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