| Anatomy of the Compleat Cathedral Project |
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ANATOMY OF THE COMPLEAT CATHEDRAL PROJECT Unless a cataclysmic event such as hurricane Hugo occurs, projects such as the one just completed at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul don’t just happen overnight. In fact, the structural problems we repaired have often been referred to as a "birth defect". Wall settlement as well as age brought us to the edge of a precipice when several years ago Mike McShane, one of our parishioners, noted that the plinths under the columns above the balconies appeared to have buckled possibly making the columns themselves unstable. A quick inspection of the boxes on which the columns sat showed them to be nothing more than finish lumber forming the outside of a hollow box rather than a solid structural member. Braces on the outside of the boxes prevented them from bulging further while our engineering firm, 4SE, Inc., studied the entire structure. Basically they learned that the columns above the balcony were never meant to be load bearing; however, settlement of the exterior masonry walls caused some of the load to transfer to the beam at the edge of the barrel vault and then to these columns. Along with this settlement, the mortise and tenon joints had given way somewhat, loosening the joints. It was decided to use structural scaffolding to lift the trusses off the walls so they could be repaired and stiffened and thus we faced the daunting prospect of a multi million dollar repair project. The final construction contract was signed in the spring of 2006 and early in July 2006 just after a diocesan ordination, the organ was dismantled with the pipes and various parts of it stored in the Bell Tower or the Parish House. We learned that although some of the interior furnishings could be stored in the apse area the only way to expeditiously complete the work was to remove and store the pews off site in controlled storage. For the next five months the inside of the Cathedral began to look like a giant erector set. The undercroft and the nave were full of scaffolding – up to and through holes in the undercroft ceiling and the nave ‘s barrel vault: all this to jack the scissor trusses up between l/4" and 1/2", just enough to take the load off both the walls and the columns so that large plates and additional timbers could be added to strengthen the existing timber structure. Weekly site meeting with the Design Engineer and the Contractor to review progress, discuss questions relating to the work, and to authorize minor changes were invaluable for keeping the work moving forward. When the idea to restore a transept aisle arose, it was these meetings where we studied the possibilities that reduced the estimated cost from approximately $24,000 down to virtually no additional cost. It was here also that the decision was made that the entire interior was to be painted while there was scaffolding in place rather than just the patches. When it was discovered that roof leaks had severely corroded the ceiling fasteners at the portico we were able, because of these meetings, to repair the roof and the ceiling in a timely fashion and while that scaffolding was in place, paint the portico ceiling as well. Just before Christmas the structural scaffolding was finally in place and with the engineer looking on, the first truss was evenly lifted and the repair and strengthening of the timber trusses began – one at a time. On the first Sunday in March the following note was included in the weekly service bulletin. "By the time you see this, all of the structural repairs will have been completed, all of the scaffolding removed from the attic over the barrel vault, and the architectural restoration work will have begun!" We were on our way back to holding services in the Cathedral! By the beginning of April noticeable improvement could be seen as the work progressed inside the Cathedral, the most significant being the plaster repairs. The plasterers completed their work on the ceiling of the upper balcony on the south side including rebuilding the plaster molding at the ceiling; and patching the barrel vault ceiling and the ceiling of the upper balcony on the north side continued. At the same time in the attic the heating and air-conditioning contractor began installing the new ducts and the electricians were installing conduit for the new barrel vault lighting. By the beginning of May the carpenters were reinstalling the south balcony pews. All of the new ductwork on that side was installed and the box that hid it from view had been replaced. With the plaster completely cured and the barrel vault repainted, the new lighting had been installed along the ledge at the barrel vault as well as in the apse area, and what a difference it makes! The evenness of the light brought out a few imperfections in the plaster that couldn’t be seen in the natural light, causing the plasterers to return and quickly fix the imperfections. On the north side (nearest the graveyard) most of the scaffolding in the balcony had been removed to a point below the balcony so the plaster repairs over the side aisle could begin and the carpenters began sorting out all of the wood pieces making up the flooring and balcony seating – getting all of the pieces back to their original location was like working on a giant picture puzzle. Fortunately the same carpenters who removed the pieces were the ones replacing them and they had marked each piece as they took it out. Finding each piece was the hard part but not impossible as they had already proven on the south side. As the completion date drew nearer and nearer – in time for another diocesan ordination! – the plasterers completed their patching and repairing and the painters took over most of the building while the finish carpenters continued to reinstall the pews in the north balcony. The Palmetto Craftsmen crew placed some of their own scaffolding around the wooden organ pipe cabinet and replaced the pieces of the cabinet that had fallen off over the years. Fortunately, these pieces were preserved by our Organist, William Gudger, who not only bagged them but also noted the area of the cabinet they came from. While the scaffolding was in place they checked the entire cabinet to ensure there were no other pieces getting ready to fall. With all of the scaffolding removed from the nave, the Church building really began to resemble the building we left just over a year ago. I was reminded of a sign I saw years ago at a road construction site in the Rockies – "Please excuse us! The inconvenience is temporary, the improvement is permanent" and I hoped we would find this true for us as well! Now, with the work complete and the final cleaning and touch-up underway so our Cathedral will be ready once again as a place to worship and witness for the parish, for the diocese and for the wider community, we should realize that it has also, in a special way, been a place of worship for those who worked here over the past year. The same individuals from Palmetto Craftsmen were present during the entire construction period and seemed to recognize that it was a Holy Place. Their craftsmen took such pride in their work for us that when they saw the Cathedral logo on the Dean’s and my hard hats they all asked for copies to put on their hard hats to show that this was their church home away from home. There was never any profanity used in or about the facility and no lost time injuries during the entire construction period! Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc. is known for their concern for safety but it seemed like everyone took extra pains to keep from being injured in our Cathedral. The first service to be held in the Cathedral after completion was, fittingly, a service of ordination for which the hymns were the same as those of the last service before construction began fourteen months earlier. We look forward to many more years of services, parochial and diocesan, pastorally-directed and mission-shaped, now that our "birth defect" has been surgically healed. To view photos please click on Learn More About Us, Photo Gallery and go to Signs of Progress. Vestry Construction Representative September 8, 2007 |
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