It was a busy and expensive year for B&G activities at St. Paul’s. All the flat roofs over the choir room, offices, entrances, and a small part of the church proper were replaced in September by Nofke Roofing. Hopefully these roofs, using a newer roofing material and installation system will last for many years to come.
Another challenge this year has been associated with the restoration of the antiphonal organ. The special challenge is that there is no access to that space unless one uses a mechanical lift. Scheduling the delivery and return of multiple lifts became a time-consuming job. To get a larger two person lift into St. Paul’s requires a large fork-lift truck that can bring the lift in through the front door. The delivery process was an experience. In this process we discovered that a one-person lift could be used to replace light bulbs in the hanging cannon lanterns in the church proper.
We also replaced the heating system in the “kindergarten” room in the basement currently used by the day care center. The new system is a heat pump that will both heat and air-condition the room. This was the least expensive option to replace the existing system in that room. This room also had water damage on the north wall that required extensive repairs.
One final item was the replacement of the steam pipe that enters St. Paul’s from Marshal Street by WE Energies, at their cost. It appears that this pipe was originally installed either in 1947/48. Because of the day-care set up in the basement they indicated that they would only do this when the children were not present, for safety . They arrived before 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday and worked most of the day to install a new pipe and valve. And yes, I had to get up early to let them into the building, their trucks and staff were there before I arrived at 6:00 a.m. If you are interested in serving on the B&G team, let me know
