AMDG
Dear OSJ Family,
“Wow! It looks like a bomb hit the Willings Alley side of Old St Joe’s! I hope everything is OK, Father. These words to me, by one of our longtime parishioners, could not be truer.
You may have noticed the shocking condition of the rectory facade (southern side of our parish complex). Please take a look if you have not already seen it.
A bomb did not hit the rectory but conservation specialists that we hired to examine and analyze the deteriorating facade discovered more complications than we had expected. It became clear that that some of the stucco was loose from the brownstone beneath and that it was only a matter of time before this would begin to fail and fall off the facade. This posed a serious safety issue. To prevent any accidents, we brought in a masonry contractor to break off any stucco that was loose and could potentially fall. As you will see it was much more than anticipated. Our iconic arch is literally torn apart as are most of the sills and lintels. Our building does not look its best, but the danger of falling stucco is no longer a threat.
Please know that the Historical Preservation Corporation of the parish (a talented and dedicated group of parishioners consisting of architects, attorneys, fundraisers and archivists) of which I serve as president, only recently became alarmingly concerned with the state of the brownstone and the general brickwork. This was brought to our attention by yet another talented parishioner, Brendan Flanagan, who with his crew were contracted to paint the rectory windows and shutters. Besides doing excellent work, Brendan, thankfully, made the initial discovery of the deterioration.
Truthfully, since I arrived here last year on August 23rd, 2015, I have found myself consumed with maintenance issues that are typical of a historic set of buildings as are ours at OSJ. In this past year alone, we have painted all the windows (there are 89 in all), replaced and painted the shutters, and done a considerable amount of patch work on our buildings. Likewise, we restored our historic OSJ signage, added new lights/lanterns to the courtyard and the Walnut street patio, and began repairing sections of the slate patio at our Walnut Street entrance. Additionally, we will begin much needed repairs on the ceiling over the high altar that was damaged by a leak a few years ago. This will require scaffolding for several weeks in January and February. Accordingly, with the scaffolding in place, we hope to replace all of our lighting fixtures with LED fittings that will provide a higher quality of light and will prove to be more economical and safe.
Now back to the rectory facade, it will need attention sooner than later. We are in the process of preparing a scope of work that we will put out for bid to masonry contractors. Our architects estimate that this project could run as high as four hundred thousand dollars! With this, we will need to solicit financial assistance from you, our parishioners. The parish budget simply cannot absorb such an expense, especially given these other projects that are crucial to our physical plant. Therefore, I will be in touch soon about undertaking efforts to support this project, and others, as we seek to restore and preserve our beloved historic buildings at Old Saint Joseph’s. In the meantime, please give this need your kind consideration. Thank you and God bless.
In the Lord,
Fr Phil Florio, SJ
Pastor
