Renovation Committee

The committee reviewed the needs of the building, the temperment of the parish, and the available funds and determined that rather than wait for all of the funds to be received or to borrow against them and incur a debt and interest, to divide the project into different phases over the coming years that would begin to reap results from peoples' contributions as well as improve the comfort of the building even before painting could begin.

The first phase occurred in December of 2019 when the parish was presented with a unique opportunity to purchase a demonstration model of an electronic organ at a 25 % savings.  Initially considering to buy it on a payment schedule, it was eventually determined to save the interest and purchase it outright.  The new wiring and installation occurred in December of 2019 in time for the Christmas celebrations in the parish.  
The next part of this phase was to remove the asbestos that covered the heating system in the lower church.  This abatement was performed by Atlantic Abatement of Rhode Island during the shut down during the coronavirus pandemic in May of 2020 at a cost of $42,000.  Their scope of work included the removal of asbestos covering the pipes, the demolition of the heating system including the removal of all the radiators and the demolition of the previous steam boiler.
To remove the radiators, the pews that stood along the side walls of the nave were removed to be refinished.  This work has been contracted with Lloyd's Woodworking of Hudson.  The finish the committee selected is virtually identical to the current color and the kneelers will be recovered in a neutral colored vinyl covering.  This firm has also been selected to fabricate the new wood wainscotting that will camoflauge the new mechanicals for the new heating and cooling system.
Stained Glass Resources, Inc., was chosen by the committee to renew and repair the priceless Mayer Munich windows that line the nave.  The four center windows on the south side of the building were removed the week before the COVID-19 shut down and were expected mid-July, but the pandemic has pushed the return date to mid-September due to the changes in working hours and availability of staff during the pandemic.
The main part of Phase I will be the installation of new mechanicals for heating and cooling the church and the electrical service to support it.  To provide for the installation of this equipment the trees between the church and the parish hall were removed in June of 2020 by All Pro Tree Service of Framingham.  The electrical work will be completed by Favulli Electrical of Shrewsbury and the HVAC by Victory of Bellingham.  A difference of opinion between the engineers involved brought all parties to the table to reassess the electrical service to the property. 

As the summer wore on, so did our waiting.  There was a need for new prints, discussion and changes to the bids provided and the equipment that would be needed.  One of the critical questions involved the power that the parish needed to run the new system.  Its previous system was virtually maxed out with the first proposal so when it was determined that more BTUs would need to be produced to keep the church comfortable in the event of a difficult New England winter, there was a need to increase the electrical service to the building.  It was finally determined to upgrade from the current 400 amp service to a 600 amp service, but that would require a transformer on a pole, a new line to that transformer on Sumner Street and a new transformer on our building. 

In the meantime, we moved our services to the Large hall for daily Mass, returning each weekend for our Masses and the opportunity to check the progress of the work.  Funerals could be held in the hall, but families preferred instead to have them celebrated at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church here in Milford.  With generous hospitality, Fr. Scioli allowed us the use of his parish on several occasions as we bid farewell to our beloved brothers and sisters and commended their souls to the Lord and his merciful embrace.

Victory went right to work, ordering the units, and installing them along the side walls of the nave.  Favulli was right with them to wire power and connect them to the eventual service that would be offered.  As well, they were running conduits and wires for a new fire alarm system, new and improved lights, and other infrastructure to our beloved church.  With the units in place, before they were operational, we had a mock up of the proposed wainscot to determine how to access the filters and allow service to the units when it might be needed.  Units were also installed in the lower church.  For the first time ever, it would a separately controlled system.  Previously, the heat in the lower church was the residual heat from the steam pipes that ran along the ceiling to heat the upper church.  On really cold days, it made the lower church a steam bath and unbearable as the heat made its way to the upper regions of the building.  Now, it has its own units and a separate thermostat to make it comfortable and thoroughly modern for our worship and praise.  

As one would expect, not everything went perfectly, but at the end of October, National Grid had run the necessary lines and installed the required transforms so that the increased power came to our church and we were able to power up our new system and heat the church.  The weekend of Halloween and All Saints, the day after the first snow of the season, we had a warm and comfortable church as people enjoyed a church so warm that someone wanted to complain that it was too hot!  Since then the electricians are busy with the fire alarm system, new lights in vestibule, photo sensitive lights at every entrance and other infrastructure. The week of November 16th, the wainscot arrived and began to be installed to camoflague the heating units and create finished and elegant appearance to our church once again.

By the Thanksgiving holiday, the basic structure of the wainscot was in place, and the pews were returned for every other row.  This would eliminate the need to install and then remove them for the use of the lift to install new lighting and fans.  These elements of the renovation were delayed until after the holidays since some of the fixtures were backordered.  Rather than rent the lift twice, which would expensive, it was decided to delay the installation until all the fixtures were in place and the lift would need to be rented only once.

After the first of the new year of 2021, weekday Masses moved back to the large hall and our workmen took over the church every Monday through Friday to install the new lights.  These lights have made a huge difference in the ability to see and appreciate the beautiful architectural lines of our church.  New spotlights for the sanctuary, brighter and more intense lights in the ceiling, spotlights for each individual station and new lighting in the vestibule and lower church have made for a nearly new church to one's eyes.

A new fire alarm system, using an infrared beam from the choirloft to the sanctuary makes our church much safer.  This new system upgraded the units in the bell tower as well while installing fixtures for the first time in the attic.  In addition to these new sensors, the system was separated from the center so that each system now works independently.  A fire alarm in one building will not sound in the other; that means burnt bacon at a Sunday morning breakfast won't need to empty the church during a morning Mass!  This new system was tested and approved by the Milford Fire Department who were on site to activate the system.  The former system has been removed since then.  By the first week of March, the only outstanding aspect of the project was the accent lighting in the lower church.  The new soffits were not code compliant and the building inspector made a change that delayed the final construction of these elements.  Once they are finished, the electricians will be back on site and the Phase One will be officially completed!  In under a year, around 11 months and with a budget of less than a million dollars.  The parish can be proud that all of this work is not only done but paid for and these aspects of the renovation will last beyond the lifetime of all but the younger members of our parish who are still in school.

What started as a sprint with the onslaught of the pandemic and the closing of public worship in 2020 weakened to a lengthy marathon in 2021.  With the large ticket items of the heating units, the newly fabricated wainscot and the lighting in the upper church, the project stalled at times to pull this first phase over the finish line.  There was one aspect of any contractor that depended on another that depended on another.  And there was the uncertain ebbing and flowing of the coronavirus in society.  At one point, mask mandates were relaxed in some instances, and reinstated in others.  Some communities and states had different rules than others and this impacted construction with the supply chain of materials and the physical well-being of workers.  More than once, a contractor was lined up and then rescheduled because of the incidence of COVID-19 among the workers.  This moved other contractors and their schedule to make a moving line for the finish that seemed ever elusive.
The installation of new heating and cooling units in the lower church along with the conduit for all new wiring, both electrical and fire safety, made for an unsightly appearance as a place of worship.  The committee moved with the idea to cover the conduits with soffits to be more asthetically attractive, to paint the lower church and finish it to be available for worship if the upper church were to be closed for renovations in the future.  John Canning, a liturgical decorative firm in Connecticut was contracted to recommend a color palette and determine a scheme for painting the lower church.  The windows under the exits from the upper church were illuminated so that they would not remain dark and the stations of the cross were refurbished by the relatives of a diocesan priest.  The kneelers received new coverings as did the sanctuary furnishings, and the floor was cleaned, waxed and buffed to a shine looking nearly new!
Daily Mass and other devotions returned to the lower church in June of 2021.  The ability to live stream our services was also installed so that our daily Mass could be shared with those still isolating from COVID or homebound for other reasons.  
During these renovations, the vestibule in the upper church required a new ceiling since the former was demo-ed for fear of falling and to run the wires for the electrical and fire safety.  The color scheme from the lower church was replicated here.  The leaded glass in the doors was renewed and covered with a safety glass so that it would receive pressure from people using that part of the door to push to exit.  New closures eliminated the prevous and all too familiar bang when the doors returned to the lace of rest.  The heating and cooling units got new covers and new glass covered bulletin boards helped to make a professional and neat appearance as people entered our church.

The work in the attic of the church revealed another issue.  Workers there who turned off the lights could see daylight through the slates, which meant that the roof was not as watertight as we had figured.  So, four bids were procured and a contract awarded to JBC Construction who completed the repairs on the roof in the late months of 2021.  In the meantime, the edges of the stained glass windows in the upper church were also found to be less than water tight when in a tropical storm with horizontal wind and rain, moisture came through the edges of the windows to the main church.  It was determined to hire a firm who went window by window to scrape and caulk each window casing as the wood meets the stone of the church to assure that it would be watertight.  The warranty is for 20 years.  This investigation also brought to light more concerns on the state of the Mayer Munich windows of the sanctuary and nave.  While they are in need of serious and more immediate attention, the funds are not yet available for this work.  It will be a priority to be completed before the entire church is painted.

While these other details were being attended to, the committee was meeting to discuss its future vision and to secure three bids, according to diocesan policy, in order to secure an architect and a design for a mock-up.  The committee actually met with four firms and created three bids from them.  The first was John Canning, the liturgical decorative arts firm who did the color palette for the lower church and had created an initial design in 2019 for the committee.  They were teamed with the firm of Spencer, Sullivan and Vogt who had done the architectural services for Phase 1 to provide the same for this next phase which would include the renovations and improvements to the sanctuary.  The committee also interviewed McPherson, Simmons Brothers and Sons from Orange, NJ.  Lastly, was a proposal from GRL Architects of Hopkinton, MA.  The committee met and reviewed the ideas o the architects and their recommendations for colors and finishes for the final version of the upper church.  The work began in earnest in the summer of 2021, and by July of 2022, the parish was awaiting word from the diocese on a chosen firm to move forward with the project. 

Once secured, a design and renderings of the vision for the renovation will be presented to the parish and a mock up of said design will be executed in a window bay of the upper church.  This will allow parishioners to opportunity to see the actual colors where and how they would appear in the lighting of the church itself.