By BRIAN NEARING, Staff Writer  First published: Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Historic church finally gets some support
Crews securing roof of St. Joseph's might be able to remove scaffolding by Christmas  
 

A sea of steel scaffolds and the gentle cooing of roosting pigeons filled the soaring expanse of St. Joseph's Church on Tuesday morning.

Capping beams at the vaulted ceiling, looking down on a pile of broken marble where the altar had been, carved wooden angels rested, their heads on the sandbagged-topped scaffolds supporting them and the roof itself.

Below, Bill Brandow said he felt relief. For a week, workers have been rebuilding a rotted 16-foot pine support pillar. At this rate, he said he hoped, the maze of scaffolding, which the city put up two years ago to stave off the roof's immediate collapse, might be removed by Christmas.

Saving the roof is just the first step toward reviving the landmark Arbor Hill church by the Historic Albany Foundation, which took ownership of the 138-year-old neo-Gothic building from the city in June.

"This was our very first priority," said Brandow, director of technical services for the nonprofit foundation, as he walked through the unheated sanctuary where chunks of plaster, loosened by water damage, are liable to fall from the ceiling without warning.

So far, repair work is going well, and crews from Western Building Restoration Co., an Albany firm that specializes in historic reconstruction, haven't found any unexpected damage, Brandow said.

Once the supports are secured, the building will endure another Albany winter before the slate roof can be fixed in the spring. Some of the leaks, at least, are being caused by decay around the copper flashing where different roof levels meet, Brandow said.

"We've got to keep the pigeons out, keep the water out," he said.

But much of the interior of the church is in remarkably good condition, said Richard Applebaum, a structural engineer from the Syracuse firm of Klepper, Hahn & Hyatt.

Applebaum worked in the church in 1997 when it was still owned by the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, which wanted to know at that time if the building was safe.

The few lights still working in the church are too dim to show the beauty of a carved and painted wooden ceiling, he said. "When I got up in the tower and shined my flashlight along the ceiling, you could see it is in great condition," Applebaum said. Nearly all the stained glass is intact and painted
murals of biblical scenes are clearly visible.

Sometime next month, a committee will recommend a new use for the building, said foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Griffin.

The committee, which held a series of public meetings this summer to consider ideas, will give a summary for the public at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Ten Broeck Street.

Griffin said a proposed master plan unveiled by the Albany Public Library calling for a new Arbor Hill branch matches many proposals received by the foundation's study committee.

"We are definitely talking with the library board about that," she said. "It was probably the most popular idea, the one that people came up with the most."

The foundation is trying to raise money to cover the estimated $600,000 needed to stabilize the building before it can be renovated for another use. The state provided a $300,000 grant, which the foundation must match with about $180,000 of its own money. So far about $50,000 has been raised, Griffin said. Donor forms are available at http://www.historic-albany.org.