One sign of progress with the Heritage Project is the removal of some of the scaffolding. It’s remarkable to see the sections of newly re-pointed mortar looking so clean. Be sure to look at the bank of photos on the Saint Mary’s website which shows that the progress.
Heritage Gallery : https://www.smary.org/gallery-church-construction1
Heritage Roofing has completed the replacement of the roof on the tower. They are getting close to completing the roof over the chancel, which is the oldest section of the church building. Soon they will start on the roof over the narthex.
Knowles will be returning to work on the lighting level and bell level as well as the chimneys on the parish house and the rectory. The work on the organ is well underway. Noack Organ Company has taken several sections of keyboards and stops to complete the work, and the work is taking longer than expected. While the organ was down, Wardens, Ben Russell and Tom LaPlante have stripped, sanded and refinished the floor in the organ loft. None of us can remember the last time it was done. We are grateful for their leadership on this special project.
You may recall that one of the components designed to modernize the organ was to build a continuo, a harmonic keyboard, which would be in the chancel roughly where the digital organ is currently placed. This device, which has origins in the Baroque period, would allow the Casavant organ to play the continuo from the loft. This allows our music minister greater flexibility in the type of music offered during our services. Our organ builder, Didier Grassin, shared some concerns with us that the device might not meet our expectations. We have opted to pause the work on the continuo. We have installed the electrical infrastructure to power the device enabling us to restart the project in the future should we feel it’s needed and can meet our expectations.
We are continuing with the three components of this project that will modernize the organ. The organ bench will be modified so that it’s adjustable, and we will no longer rely on cinder blocks perched precariously on the frame to allow for all-sized organists. We are also installing a combination action system, which will allow stop action to be programmed by the organist. Simply put, we are going from a stick shift transmission to an automatic transmission. We are also replacing two pipes that are rarely, if ever, used with pipes that we will use more often.
Thank you to all who have made this possible. We are so grateful for your support.