Sunday, April 15, 2012

About That Old Church Building

Karen Smith, whose house on Union Street is immediately adjacent to the structure, was the first to express publicly her concern about the soundness of the former Methodist Episcopal Church which is today the Hudson Youth Center. The building, which will be 160 years old next year, probably has not received the most solicitous care since it was taken over by the Boys' Club in the 1930s, but it must be acknowledged that in the past decade or so, since the City of Hudson took possession of the building, there have been some noticeable improvements, which are evident when the first picture below, which was taken in the late 1990s, is compared with the second picture, which was taken this afternoon.


Since 2005, at least $800,000 in grant money has been invested in the building, to replace the roof and install new windows. Still, Smith's concern about the condition of the building, particularly the rusted exterior steel support on the building's east wall, prompted the City of Hudson to engage a structural engineer to do a "cursory structural assessment" of the building. The report of that assessment, submitted by Daniel Proper of Crawford & Associates, was presented to the Common Council at the informal meeting last Monday.

The report makes the statement about the building's condition: "In general terms, the building was found to be in good to fair overall condition. No signs of imminent failure were identified. With regards to the placement of the new addition, no deterioration or existing structural conditions along the north side were observed that would restrict the placement of the addition in this area. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the new addition will be structurally independent of the existing building."

Although no imminent threats of failure were observed, four areas of concern were identified in the report and recommendations were made. The first cause for concern was cracking in and above the six masonry window arches on the south and north walls of the building. These arches support the dead weight of the masonry above the windows. Back in 2006, when the new windows were being installed, it was recognized (and this information is not part of the assessment report) that undue stress had been placed on the masonry arches when the original stained glass windows of the church were removed. The original windows apparently had steel frames, which helped support the weight above the windows. The recommendation made by Crawford & Associates is to install crack monitors on the arches to monitor the rate of movement. It's possible that remedial efforts were made when the new windows and frames were installed (although the cracks were not repaired at that time), and the monitors will detect no further movement. 

A second cause for concern are "significant longitudinal cracks in four roof purlins." Purlins are horizontal timbers that span the heavy trusses and support the roof rafters. Although the report indicates that cracks of this sort are common, the situation, according to the report, calls for fairly immediate action: "It is recommended that the members be full assessed, along with the remaining roof framing, and corrective action taken to reinforce the cracked purlins and their connections to the timber trusses. Due to the severity of the cracks, this work should be completed prior to 2012 winter season."

The third area of concern was the bowing of the tin ceiling along the south side of the second floor gymnasium. The report explains: "As is typical for buildings in Hudson, tin ceilings were installed primarily to cover over the deteriorating original wood lath and plaster ceiling." Apparently, the deterioration that the tin ceiling was meant to cover up has continued, and now the weight of the plaster that was come detached from the wood lath is causing the tin ceiling to sag. Crawford & Associates recommends a full evaluation fo the ceiling and appropriate corrective measures once the extend of the problem has been determined.  

The fourth and final cause for concern is the rusted exterior steel support that worried Smith in the first place. The steel framing supports what Crawford & Associates calls a second floor "bump out" constructed of masonry but was probably an apse in the original church building. The report states that "corrosion was observed to exist on all of the exterior steel support members" and makes the recommendation that "the progression of the decay be evaluated" in order to determine "the steel's allowable capacity to support the bump out loading."

The colorized post card image of the Methodist Episcopal Church was provided by Helen Arrott. The photo of the building in the late 1990s was taken by Byrne Fone. The photo of the exterior support on the building's east wall was provided by Karen Smith.

4 comments:

  1. I guess $800,000. doesn't go as far as it used to ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mea culpa. Peter Meyer submitted this comment and I accidentally deleted it:

    I said it before, I say it again: we focus on the details here and lose sight of the essential problem: this is the wrong place for a senior center -- and the wrong place for a youth center. This damn town tends to be ruled by a tail wagging a dog. (Just look at the Library mess: a perfectly sound building project plan thrown completely off course by a rich person with the ear of a compliant board.) This is what happened to the Boys & Girls Club: a perfectly solid organization (after all it survived the Great Depression and a World War) derailed by petty politics (the Club was intentionally bankrupted in order to give it to the City). So, now that that fix is in, we continue down the rotten trail, adding more rocks to the path, adding a "senior center" to this already forlorn and out-of-place building? I don't know if there such a thing as "community insanity" in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, but this would surely qualify as a clinical diagnosis. When will the tail quit wagging the dog?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter, I want ,if Carole doesn't mind ,to reprint part of my long comment on april 11th.Since I end my thought with you.


      "The location of the Senior Center is what the issue is and for that amount of money
      it is being Crammed into the Former Methodist Episcopal Church 1854 tree filled side yard and being attached to historic Bldg.the foundation is by most written historical accounts
      the foundation of Friends meeting house 1794.

      This is also all being built on State 23B9G Trke RTE,between 2 traffic lights, trucks the size illegal in Manhattan,barreling through night and day
      and trucks will be constantly stuck at lights idling in front of Senior Center.
      There is no parking and what appears in the drawings as barely a sidewalk.
      There would be no possibility for green space or parking for Youth Center or seniors

      these architect renderings are sales presentations, there is no reality in them,that could possibly convey the reality of the true proximity of this new structure and ALL the surrounding buildings,yards , alley& streets--to scale .A model would be best

      Not like that absurd rendering of "Civic" that shows grassy lawns where River Studio & Etsy ,a house and Helsinki exist.
      The whole concept for locating the Senior Center there was so ill conceived
      and a knee jerk idea originally from Scalera ,
      to increase grant funding for Youth Center by piggybacking the "concept" of a Senior Center in 2005 on shared site.

      ---------------

      Register star
      City seeks funds for Boys and Girls Club renovation
      By Bob MitchellPublished:
      Friday, January 21, 2005 12:37 AM EST
      HUDSON -- The Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency board on Thursday unanimously
      chose the Boys and Girls Club as applicant for the next round of Community Development Block Grant funds.
      The competitively sought $400,000 grant, if the city is successful at obtaining it, would be used to renovate the club.
      The application deadline is in April, and the city will know by September if the application was successful
      Last week, HCDPA conducted a public hearing to solicit ideas for the grant application
      There were several, but a suggestion to combine a senior center with the Boys and Girls Club appeared to be the most attractive.
      Peter Markou, executive director of HCDPA, said Thursday that presenting the project as beneficial to seniors
      as well as to youth might enhance the application's chances of success.
      The panel said the intergenerational concept for the club presented at the hearing last week might work.
      "We need input from seniors," said Mayor Richard Scalera, HCDPA board member.
      The money will not go far, said Scalera. Initial work includes restoration of windows, doors, heat and electric, he said.
      This grant is called a single-purpose grant.
      Municipalities also have the option of applying for a comprehensive grant for up to $600,000.
      Those grants are used to fund more than one project.
      Scalera asked Markou if HCDPA could apply for a $600,000
      comprehensive grant if a senior center was to be part of the Boys and Girls Club.
      "Now it is one site with two programs," Scalera said.
      Markou said he would look into it.
      The city plans to have its Youth Department operate the financially strapped club.
      Opening of Boys and Girls Club will be pushed back one week

      Delete
    2. No more thought than that was put into this
      Not location,its safety or how it would impact Seniors,
      the Youth Center and Youth at the Youth Center
      neighbors. No thought about
      it was a historic building in very bad repair
      Then it just took on a life of its own
      a shared space became a building
      an elevator,
      No more thought than what do we do to keep the grant money and get more

      and still start 200k over budget,before overruns,before a hammer has been lifted.


      This is a very disturbing phenomenon ,here in
      modern day Hudson of no City Planning
      in the 2nd Planned City in the United States 1784
      and no respect for that

      A half baked plan is mentioned one day

      next day there are pretty ,unrealistic pictures,

      and then CC votes to build it

      always grandstanding if you object

      that you are heartlessly against the poor,the homeless,children and old people.

      fait accomplis
      before anyone has time to stop it.

      I hope if this very ill conceived idea is slammed through,

      HPC forgets about SpaceSmith pretty pictures and
      does its due diligence on the Historic Building in a Historic District

      it is being proposed to attach to
      and side yard it is being built on
      that has
      never been built on,sacred in that way

      A yard of Friends Meeting House 1794

      and Methodist Episcopal Church 1854.

      since 1925 a yard for boys and girls club

      and in 2005 it was seized by city ,
      to run Youth Center, and not well

      It was then,2005,Scalera started to try to get more than the allotted $ 400,000 grant
      for Youth Center improvement by adding "idea"
      of a Senior center to the grant ,for an extra$200k

      Would HPC think this same Building design concept
      would be appropriate smacked up next to Presbyterian Church
      on East side yard covering every inch,on Warren and 4th St?
      It is the same thing.
      This 1960ish elementary school annex / carport design
      might look great on its own lot with parking and gardens.
      Not in a Historic District,crammed between a Historic Church and an alley on a 23b/9g Trke Rte
      with no parking or green space.The gate way into Hudson
      the neighboring building on the other side of Youth Center /Church is the historic Masonic Hall
      how do these buildings relate with the 1960ish scholastic annex?
      the grant to build there, isn't even approved yet.
      there are many citizens against building anything in the side yard.
      HPC can barely enforce any laws as is
      Very little of Hudson is historically protected
      This will set a standard,that will make it much harder to protect other historic buildings and sites

      We have very important buildings on the horizon

      If this is OK with HPC,prior to State Historic approval
      Proper structural evaluation of the Historic Building
      and the appropriateness to attach to it
      on the formally tree filled 1/4 lot belonging to
      the former Episcopal Methodist Church1854
      Friends Meeting House1794
      What isn't going to be OK with HPC ?
      and how are they going to defend their decisions,
      knowing
      how little power Scalera has left the HPC.
      Why wouldn't the restoration of the Methodist Episcopal Church
      that is on the Gateway into Hudson,be HPC,first priority.

      Then the condition of the youth center its self
      is there any money for the Youth?
      It's only through the youth,that this grant for senior center was conjured up in the first place
      How much real time was spent looking for a much better
      location for a senior center?
      Or ,besides Peter Meyer,a safer location for a Youth Center,for that matter?

      Delete