This rebuilding and renovation project began when an inspection of the church towers found significant deterioration of the finials at the top of the towers. The towers had been repaired and stabilized in the mid-1980s, when the spires were removed. While we have pressing problems with the towers, we also have major leaks in the roof and deterioration around the doors and windows of the church. Our historic graveyard is in disrepair, and repairs are needed to the friary. Finally, during this repair and rebuilding project, we are willing to consider renovations to support the mission of the church. For example, we only have one restroom that is located behind the altar. Another major issue is that we have limited access for people with disabilities, the elderly, and families with young children.

Here is what we have done so far:

1. We hired Jack Zavorski Contracters to temporarily stabilize the tops of the towers. As you walk down 13th street, you can see the reinforced architectural mesh at the tops of the towers. Under the mesh is a variety of other repairs made to stabilize the towers.

2. After sending out a Request for Proposals to qualified local architects and interviewing three architectural firms, the firm of Atkin Olshin Schade was selected. They have been diligently working on evaluating the church.

Here is a summary to date:

This is a photo of a recent inspection. If you looking closely, you can see the finial on the left is tilting forward. Previous repairs have been made with cables to try to stabilize these finials.

Here is a close-up of the finials from the top of the tower. As you can see, there are also cracks developing around the finials.

There are also cracks in the facade of the church. This facade has been in place for 100 years. See the History of St. John's for more details of the 1907 renovation.

Here you can see the edge of an inspecting platform and some of the cracks that have developed in the facade.

What caused these cracks? Over the years, as the towers have worn, water has been able to get into the masonry. When the water freezes in the winter, it expands and pushes the bricks out.

We are also seeing water damage in other parts of the church. The stains on the church ceiling are from rain damage.

Although water has stained a lot of the ceiling, our initial studies do not show any structural damage to the vaulted ceiling.

If you look on the other side of our vaulted ceilings, you would see significance water leakage. This photo shows an (ingenious) temporary measure that the staff put together to catch water leaking around the skylights. They captured over 40 gallons of rain during a storm in April 2007!

We believe that a lot of the leaking is coming in around the skylights.

We are relieved that only a few of our beautiful stained glass windows need repairs, although all of the windows need refurbishing.

We are also having a lot of issues around the main door of the church. First of all, the door on the left has sagged and leaves a gap of about 1 inch when the door is closed. Perhaps even more important, the area around the main entrance to the church is poorly suited to welcoming visitors. We don't have an area to greet people, let them ask questions or get oriented, or just get to know people a little bit. This issue inhibits our ability to carry out a core aspect of our mission.

Also, we do not have easily accessible restrooms. Many of our congregation are visitors who have been walking around the city. Our only restroom is currently accessible by walking through the altar. It can be a difficult problem during the Easter Vigil!