Gainesville — If you have driven by the First United Methodist Church in Gainesville recently, you have seen construction workers putting boards up on the stained glass windows of the sanctuary. The reason is the renovation and restoration project for the exterior of the Sanctuary section has started.

The five-month project is to replace the brick on the sanctuary and to repair or replace the wooden structure of both the sanctuary and the two towers atop the section.

Don Yeager, Pastor of First United Methodist Church, said the sanctuary is in need of the renovation for safety reasons.

“In 2007 we discovered there was a problem with the brick on the outside of the sanctuary,” Yeager said. “This is only on the outside of the sanctuary. It was built in 1892 and the brick was not firmly attached.”

 The brick ties that held it originally have dissolved and the mortar is dissolving so the brick face isn’t firmly attached to the wooden structure behind it, he said.

“You could see the distortion just from the force of gravity. The walls were kind of bowing out, and it wasn’t a safe situation,” Yeager said. “In enough time it might start collapsing.”

An engineer was called out to complete a study. Then the church hired an architect and a contractor to develop the plans for the project.

The church has been working toward the project since 2007 and raising money for it, Yeager noted.

The cost for the renovation and restoration project is $1.1 million. The good news is the funds for the renovation and restoration project have already been raised in gifts and pledges in the amount of $1.2 million.

Yeager said he is appreciative of the church congregation coming up with the money needed for the project when economic times are so rough.

The renovation is something that could not be pushed out to a later time because of the safety issue, Yeager said.

Because the church has a historical marker and is a registered state historical landmark, all of the work is being done in partnership with the State Historical Commission.

“That marker means we have to try to preserve the look of the building on the outside as close as possible to the original condition,” Yeager noted. “We come under the commission’s guidelines and you can’t just tear it down or put a completely different looking brick on the outside or change the whole look of it. They have to approve the plans, details and the work to be done.”

Yeager said that when a structure is registered for a historical marker, it is the responsibility of the group that registered it to maintain the landmark over time, so the congregation is meeting their responsibility to take care of the church.

During the renovation and restoration, all the old brick will be taken off of the Sanctuary section and replaced with new red brick. Yeager said they considered reusing the old brick but too much brick will be ruined during the removal process.

The new brick will be matched as closely as possible to the original brick.

The wood framework of the sanctuary will also be strengthened and reinforced before the new brick is put on. When the old brick is removed, steel studs will be placed alongside the original wooden studs to reinforce and strengthen the wood framework of the Sanctuary.

The sanctuary will also be fully insulated during the project.

“We are also redoing the two towers (steeples) on top of the sanctuary,” Yeager noted. “They are deteriorating, too. Part of the project is to redo those on the inside and the outside. The small tower and the big tower will be repaired and rotting wood will be replaced.”

Yeager said the plan is to take the larger tower down and place it in the parking lot for inspection and repairs. If the repairs needed are extensive, the whole tower may be replaced.

The renovation and restoration project started July 21 and is scheduled to be completed around Christmastime.

During the five-month period, the Fellowship Center and the Educational Building will not be affected by the project.

The sanctuary section is going to look like new, Yeager said, and he hopes the surrounding community will appreciate the work going into the project to renovate and restore the church in their neighborhood.