When our former rector, the Reverend Buddy Stallings, interviewed me for my position as the Director of Facilities at St. Bart’s, one of the many questions that he asked me was, “Why do you want to work at St. Bart’s?” The answer was so easy for me. I already had a long history with the building and many of the people that worked and attended church here. My father’s long tenure in the same position that I was interviewing for made this community and this building part of our family. I ended my answer to his question by saying that it is inspiring getting to work in such a beautiful place every day.
At the time of that conversation, despite the great history of this building, the valuable contributions that it made to the community every day, and the beautiful care that was given to its construction, the building was in great disrepair. A century of harsh weather, pollution and daily use resulted in leaking drains, leaking roofs, significant openings in the exterior masonry that compromised the steel construction and threatened to heave the façade to the sidewalks below.
The leadership of the church recognized these serious issues and made a commitment to protect the envelope of the building as a top priority and to preserve it for future generations. A successful capital campaign was launched highlighting many of the building’s needs and the members of the parish and the community responded generously. The church’s leadership then negotiated the sale of a portion of our transferable development rights. These funds, coupled with significant contributions from the St. Bartholomew’s Conservancy gave us the financing to begin some very necessary repairs to the building.
Over the last several years we have worked hard to honor the commitment of the Vestry, the Properties Committee, and our rector, Bishop Dean Wolfe, to preserve and restore our historic building. Bishop Wolfe has made the historic restoration of St. Bart’s a foundational tenet of his leadership here. Early on he impressed upon me the importance that the condition of this building plays in inspiring and welcoming people within its doors. Over the past five years, we have approved and overseen the completion of the Dome restoration, the replacement of all the barrel tile roofing throughout the property, the complete restoration of the Community House façade including the repair and replacement of the damaged structural steel, the full restoration of the north façade of the church, and a partial restoration of the west facade. In total, we have completed almost $20 million in restoration to the building over this time period; the most significant work done on the building in its history.
This week we are completing the work to the north façade as the scaffolding that has been ubiquitous around here lately quickly comes down. The work will definitely accomplish its intended goal of protecting the envelope of this sacred space and preserving it for many years to come. However, this work has also uncovered some of the beautiful treasures that have been hidden behind the dirt and carbon deposits of one hundred years. I invite you to take a walk along the north façade and see the incredible architecture, stonework and beautiful detail in this great structure. I hope it inspires you and the many who walk in front of it on a daily basis. I know that it does for me each day, as I predicted it would during that interview almost nine years ago.
Corey Durney
Director of Facilities
North Facade - Before and After
Click the arrows to scroll through images to see some stunning before and after photos of the restoration and cleaning of the north façade.
