THE SANCTUARY at Bath’s Winter Street Center, as seen on Wednesday, is under renovation. The renovation process as well as the building’s history will be highlighted this Saturday during Bath Historical Society’s Talk and Tour presentation “Rising from the Debris: Restoring the Winter Street Sanctuary.”
Bath Historical Society’s Talk and Tour series will highlight the restoration of the Winter Street Sanctuary this Saturday with their presentation of “Rising from the Debris: Restoring the Winter Street Sanctuary.”
The sanctuary, which is part of the larger Winter Street Center, has been under construction since the roof collapsed in August 2015.
“It’s a good chance for people to know the history of the church, which I don’t think has been presented in lecture form,” said Robin Haynes, manager of the Patten Free Library’s Sagadahoc History and Genealogy Room. “And the construction taking place is beautiful. As an architectural historian, it’s monumental in my mind.”
Timothy Brosnihan, vice president of Sagadahoc Preservation Inc. and assistant director at Portland’s Victoria Mansion, will lead Saturday’s presentation. Brosnihan became involved in the SPI board of trustees in the spring of 2016, just as funding for the Winter Street Sanctuary restoration was ramping up after the ceiling collapse a year earlier.
“When I joined the preservation they were still scrambling to get a sense of how they were going to deal with the ceiling,” said Brosnihan.
Only one-third of the ceiling had come down in the collapse, but the remaining ceiling had become compromised and was a safety hazard, Brosnihan said.
“Essentially they knew that they had to pull the rest of the ceiling down, so they put the project out to bid,” said Brosnihan. Preservation Timber Framing, who Brosnihan said has worked on many historical structures in the Midcoast area, took on the job.
Saturday’s Talk and Tour will highlight the sanctuary’s past leading up to the current restoration, and what’s to come in the future.
“I’ll talk about the history and the architecture of the building, and some of the previous preservation projects over the past 50 years,” said Brosnihan.
Some of those projects include a steeple restoration in the early ’80s, a painting and re-roofing project in the ’90s and a restoration of the adjoining parish hall in 2000.
“After the lecture, people will get a chance to go into the space and have an informal walk around the site,” said Brosnihan. “I’ll be there to answer any questions, and people will get a chance to see the amazing scaffolding.”
Once the roof has been rebuilt, SPI is looking ahead to removing remaining plaster in the sanctuary, cleaning up remaining debris and restoring the 120-year-old chandelier. Brosnihan said the timeline for the entire restoration is not certain, but it could be up to five years depending on funding.
“There’s some pretty serious work going on in there, and we’ve been fundraising right along,” said Brosnihan. “Ideally you plan carefully, raise the money and then do the work, but with the roof collapse we’ve raised funds along the way. We’ve done things differently but it has been working out.”
“Rising from the Debris: Restoring the Winter Street Sanctuary” will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit bathhistorical.com.
bgoodridge@timesrecord.com
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