News

This is the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the sanctuary portion of the Wellesley Village Church building. We have this wonderful facility due to 100 years of care by our congregation. We are working hard to sustain the church facilities going forward. Our next major project in this process is ready to begin.

The steeple was completed in 1922. The last major work was completed in 2002 as part of the larger building preservation and expansion project. The steeple towers 118 feet (8 ½ stories) above the ridgeline of the sanctuary roof. The project will preserve the exterior of the Light Tower, Bell Tower, and Clock Tower. These sections comprise the lower half of the steeple (see the annotated picture). There will be minor work done inside the steeple and the inside will be cleaned.

The steeple project will begin within the next 2 weeks starting with the removal of 32 solar panels from the roof of the church. The solar panels need to be removed to allow for the erection of scaffolding. The solar panels will be stored in a classroom in the church basement.

Scaffolding will be erected the week of June 26. The scaffolding’s weight will be distributed over a large area of the roof to prevent damaging the slate roof tiles. The scaffolding will be enclosed in mesh to allow workers access in a wider range of weather conditions and to protect the area below. A temporary T-Mobile cellular antenna array will be erected outside the scaffolding so the regular antennas inside the Light Tower can be shut down for worker safety.

The painting and preservation are expected to take two months which will put the completion date for the project around Labor Day.

The prime contractor for the project is Painter’s Pride. This company has done several large and small projects at the church. The company specializes in churches including steeples. The cost of the project will be funded from property reserve.

Naturally we would welcome any financial contributions toward this important step in sustaining our church building for the next century.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback throughout the project please feel free to contact Mark Lenci (marklenci@gmail.com) or Phil Carens (pcarens@gmail.com).