or three smaller pieces, were removed from
the south wall and reset in the exact location in the newly recreated sidewall. After removal of the south wall, Site Development built a temporary common wall that allowed services to continue and work to proceed on the new addition. “As much as possible of the new addition was built before the common wall was removed,” said Zanley.
Yops & Wilkie replicated the original configuration of the south wall, using Arriscraft stone and matching brick as a wall cladding, but reproducing the piers, the window elevations, and a candle-lit alcove in the exact configuration and location as the original. Tony Bellomo, a local artist who works in wood and stained glass, designed and fabricated the contemporary stained-glass window in the alcove. Bellomo’s strong use of curved organic lines creates serene and appealing pieces that complement the church’s traditional stained glass. The original church belfry contains a rose window of royal blue stained glass.

A HIDDEN STRUCTURE
Beyond rough-hewn stone and the delicacy of stained glass, the structural framework of the addition replicates the “bones” of the original church. The existing church resembles an old stone church with interior wood beams, but the building is actually a steel-frame structure. In both the addition and the original church, the wood beams are steel with wood cladding and the roof framing is steel with wood infill. “Our new addition not only duplicates the appearance of the old church, it duplicates the structure - a steel frame clad in wood on the interior,” said Zanley.
The dark stain of the original wood cladding was painstakingly replicated in the new addition. “The painter (Simon Watt Painting Co. of Detroit) matched the finish through a trial and error process,” said Zanley. “What is amazing to me is how the painter matched the existing stain of the high beams and purlins. The painter first stained the new wood cladding a green color and then applied a brown over it to give the new wood a deep, deep brown color that exactly matches the
original.”
The interior ceiling also disguises the actual shape of the roof. The wood-trimmed beams form an arched radius on the interior, camouflaging the double-sloped gable roofs of both the original church and the addition. The gable portions are connected by a flat expanse of roof and a skylight above.

The brick cladding of both the school and church additions closely matches the existing school, visually linking the new and old structures and satisfying a more practical concern, as well. “We knew we couldn’t clad the whole church in stone, because of the difficulty in finding a match to the historic limestone,” said Zanley. “We took that into account when shaping the design of the front elevation.”

To honor the church as the prime focus of the campus, the brick portion of the church façade contains more decorative and detailed elements, including cut stone accents of flat, buff limestone. “These decorative elements on the church give the building more importance in the overall front elevation,” said Zanley.
The church and school additions are linked by a covered walkway; the roughly 25 feet of space separating the buildings contains a contemplative courtyard with a statue of the Madonna and Child. “We purposely laid out those spaces to leave a small courtyard scaled to nicely relate the two additions,” said Zanley.

The courtyard walls assisted in paring expenses. For budgetary reasons, the school sidewall has a base of split-face block as opposed to real stone, said Zanley. Likewise, the courtyard wall of the church addition is clad in Arriscraft, a manufactured stone with roughly the same pattern, color and texture as the original stone. The courtyard retains vestiges of the original church, including a stone lintel with a lower edge sculpted in the

shape of curved wings and placed over a
courtyard door. A decorative wrought iron gate, originally part of the church’s baptistery entry, forms a gracious egress in the brick wall at the back of the courtyard. The wall and gate block the view of the transformer and waste bins in the alley directly behind the campus.

PRESERVING FRAGILE MEMORIES
This meticulous project required installation of roofing tile, one nail at a time, and dismantling of the south wall, stone by stone. Site Development ranks the project as one of the most difficult jobs the firm has ever tackled. “It may not have been the largest project that we have ever handled, but it was a complicated, highly detailed historic church addition,” said Theisen.
Preserving the interior elements of the parish’s rich heritage proved equally challenging. All of the stained-glass windows are etched with the names of donor families, many of whom are long-time parishioners at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Before wall disassembly, Site Development carefully removed the stained-glass windows, retaining parish memories delicately preserved in pieces of glass.
“We packaged the stained glass just as if it was a fragile egg,” said Meade. “... Removing the existing materials without damaging the pieces and interfacing them back with the new construction was one of the project’s prime challenges.”
Three large Gothic windows, as well as two