Church Restoration Project

posted on September 11

UPDATE September 2023 - Unfortunately, we were victims of the July flood, along with a number of other United Methodist Churches in our area.  As a result, it was necessary for us to tear out the newly laid vinyl plank flooring, the newly installed kitchen cabinets, and 2' of the newly installed sheetrock throughout the first floor of the building.  We are currently awaiting the receipt of bids for the repair work and final word from our insurance company as to how much money might be available from the insurance to help cover the cost of the repairs.

January 2023 -  We were finally able to have a vinyl plank floor installed on the first floor of the church building, bringing the current phase of the restoration project to end with the exception of the exterior painting of the church tower which will be completed in the spring.  There is still work to be done on the restoration of the sanctuary windows, but that will probably not take place for a couple of years. 



November 2022 - With the cooperation of the weather, we were finally able to complete the exterior work on the church building with the exception of painting the tower and the steeple.  This work requires a 90-foot lift which were unavailable this fall.  Painting of the tower will be completed in the spring of 2023.  A handicapped parking sign has also been added to the ramp.

September 2022:  Due to a number of issues, including some rainy weather, the exterior work on the church building has yet to be completed.  It is the plan, however, that work will continue during the next few weeks as the weather permits with all of the exterior work being completed by the middle of October at the latest.

 While waiting to complete the exterior painting, we have also completed some re-ordering of our heating system.  In order to render the furnace more efficient, we re-installed ductwork that was re-moved with the initial restoration and installed a propane rennai heater in the fellowship hall.  This should save on our oil bill.

Phase Eight of our project began during the week of July 5th, 2021.  This phase includes the painting of the east and west and front sides of the building.  The front and the first three panels of both the east and west sides have received two coats of paint.    It had been the plan to complete the exterior painting of the front and two sides, including the cupola during the fall months.  However, the rainy weather, combined with the difficulty in renting the lift dela0yed that process.  Instead, the lower back wall of the building was insulated and re-clapboarded and it is currently our hope that we will be able to complete the painting of the entire exterior during the spring of 2022.  If  you would like to support this part of the project, you can send a check, designated for the historic restoration project to "WUMC - PO Box 94, Wolcott, VT" or go to the "giving" tab on our website and make a donation designated for the historic restoration project.

Phase Seven of our Historic Restoration Project has now been completed.   Phase Seven included removing the old clapboards at the top of the building on the east and west sides and the front, blowing insulation into the walls and covering with tyvek, and replacing the old clapboards with new pre-primed spruce clapboards.    Thank you to those of you who made donations during this phase of the project.  The funding for this particular phase was made possible, in part, by a Preservation Grant, made possible by a partnership between the Freeman Foundation and the Preservation Trust of Vermont.  We are very grateful to the Preservation Trust and the Freeman Foundation for their support of our historic restoration project.

Phase Six of our Historic Restoration Project was completed in the late fall of 2020.  Phase Six involved removing the clapboards on the front and side corners of the exterior of the building so that the front wall and sides can be insulated about 8 feet up.  Currently, there is little to no insulation in the front or side walls so that the hallway is very cold and we have experienced freezing pipes in the bathroom during the past two winters.  Once the wall is insulated it will be covered with new clapboards.  We hope that this will be the next-to-last phase before completion of the painting of the exterior and repair of the outer walls under the eaves which we will hope to complete during 2021.   

Phase Five of our Historic Restoration Project has now been completed .  Our kitchen cabinets, sink, and countertops have been installed.  Over the winter we insulated the outside walls of the fellowship hall and sheetrocked and painted the walls a light cream color which will make the entire hall much lighter and more inviting.  The front hall has been repainted and the finishing touches have been put on the kitchen and the fellowship hall.  Once we can open the church to the public once again, it is our plan to open up use of these rooms to anyone in the community who needs a place for meetings, events such as birthday parties, baby or wedding showers, or whatever is needed.  

Phase Four - closing in the front wall of the Fellowship Hall, adding a wider, handicapped accessible door and painting the floor in the Hall so that we can once again use the hall for events-is now nearly completed with the exception of some finish work.  We held our first event in a year-and-a half when we hosted racism training for clergy and laity from the Vermont District.

We have now completed Phase Three of our Historic Restoration Project.  We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our Restoration Project to date.   As a result of your support we have a new handicapped accessible entrance ramp and have been able to completely repair the back wall so that we will have no more worries re:  water infiltration into the foundation.  There is still a need to finish the entrance, floor, and kitchen and we will be working on that in the months to come.  We could not have come this far without your support and are praying that you will continue to support us as move forward to Phase Four - completing the front interior wall of the fellowship hall along with enlarging the doorway as well as painting the floor.  Once this is done, we will have use of the hall once again.

Week 26 saw the completion on our handicapped bathroom!  We now have a fully functional bathroom once again - much larger and more pleasant than our previous one.

Week 23 ended with more plumbing work being completed on our handicapped bathroom.  An additional wall needed to be added to accommodate the required grab bars, so we will now also have a small closet in the bathroom, as well.  And the door also needed to be moved.   We have received a number of donations in memory of Linda Clark, who died very unexpectedly on August 6 and who was one of our most active members and an avid supporter of the historic restoration project.  


 

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Service and Rev. Pat's Message for Sunday, September 10, 2023, 15th Sunday of Pentecost

posted on September 10