When the Rev. Angela Boatwright was called to be priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s, Spring Valley, she was warned that the parish “had an unusual problem with the altar.” She arrived to find that the chancel floor was subsiding; when she walked on some places around the altar, the floor would move, in other places, the basement could actually be seen through the floor. From the back of the church, the altar appeared to be leaning to one side. Clearly, something had to be done, and as St. Paul’s had worked with Property Support several years previously to reroof the church, they did not hesitate to call on the diocese for help again.

Property Support awarded St. Paul’s a $3000 grant to hire a local engineer to study the chancel floor and come up with a solution to its structural failure. A local engineer, it was felt, would be both more cost effective and accessible to the parish than one located farther afield. The engineer, who did not have much experience in working with older buildings, came up with a plan that, according to Boatwright, “called for having a large pole run from one end of the church to the other. I was horrified that we were going to have this pole going across the middle because we have a lovely stained glass panel behind the altar. The pole would have run right across Jesus’ neck.”

The parish took the plans to Property Support, who met with the vestry to discuss seeking a new consultant who specialized in older buildings. “Finding a consultant, whether it be a contractor or engineer, who is sensitive and experienced with the needs of older buildings is critical,” says Michael Rebic, director of Property Support. “Few contractors today understand the special requirements of older structures.”

Property Support also connected the parish with the Bedell Fund of St. Matthew’s, Bedford, which awarded the parish a $91,000 grant for the work on the chancel. With the support and guidance of Property Support and the Bedell Fund, St. Paul’s engaged the services of consultant Ed Kamper and engineer Anthony Guiduce, experts in building restoration.

Kamper and Guiduce came up with a support system for the chancel floor that respects the aesthetics of the church building. The visible elements of the supports are cut to resemble the original wood scrollwork and painted black. “The altar used to lean to one side and now it’s level,” Boatwright says. “The most beautiful thing is that you can see none of the work; you can see the result.”

With the altar project complete, St. Paul’s still had a significant amount of its Bedell grant left, as Kamper’s and Guiduce’s support system was actually cheaper than the original proposal. The Bedell Committee allowed them to keep the remainder for the restoration of the stained glass windows and repainting the exterior of the church. In 2004, Property Support awarded the parish a grant of $1,500 for an exterior paint analysis by the New York conservation firm Jablonski/Berkowitz. To the parish’s surprise, the original colors of the building were not its current white, but a combination of cream, doeskin and dark brown. Another Property Support grant in 2005 for $7,920 has enabled the parish to hire Kamper again to oversee the restoration and the repainting.

“Having [Kamper] on board has encouraged us to start on a capital campaign fund, so that we can get the funds to do the rest of the work,” said Boatwright.
Like many parishes, she relates that St. Paul’s has had “no regular program of preventive maintenance and we’re trying to move in that direction now. People have been very dedicated and I think they’ve done their best to keep things upright, but you really have to budget for maintenance and not be afraid to spend that money on maintenance.”

Camillo Santomero, the chair of St. Matthew’s Bedell Committee, says that long term outlook is one reason St. Paul’s was awarded a grant. “They understood that getting their own buildings in shape was important because they viewed the church as something they would pass down from generation to generation. That was important to us.”

Property Support has been a constant partner with St. Paul’s in their restoration projects. Boatwright recalls, laughing, that she frequently calls Rebic and warns him that she has yet another stupid question, to which his consistent response is that there aren’t any stupid questions. “We’re so grateful for his shepherding us through this project,” she says, “it could have been so traumatic.”

Trauma, though, doesn’t seem to be on the collective minds of St. Paul’s, Spring Valley – they are far too busy concentrating on looking at what their current projects will mean for future generations at St. Paul’s. “We have major work to do and we need to do it well so we don’t have to keep revisiting it. It’s going cost money and we’re worth it,” Boatwright says. “We have a lot of kids who are going to have many years of growing up in this church and we need to have it wonderful for the community and for ourselves and for those who come here in the future.”