“Renovations to the church are finally finished,” noted the Very Reverend Monsignor Michael R. Billian, Pastor of Saint Joseph Parish. The long process began in stages in 2020 during COVID-19 while the church was closed. “When the decision was made to undergo this renovation, I realized how cold and stark the church looked with its all-white decor and thought this was an opportunity to create a warm, welcoming ambiance. Billian consulted with a team including liturgical consultant, the Reverend Monsignor Charles E. Singler, liturgical designer Paula White of Atelier Liturgical, and architect Samuel Kunkle. Then the plan for the project was developed. “During a recent diocesan-wide fundraising drive, the generosity of parishioners helped to exceed fundraising goals. Each parish benefited, which helped to fund our project. And our parishioners were excited to do good things for our church.”
According to Monsignor Billian, as the new sanctuary was constructed, the pillars on each side of the nave were encased in oak up to the ceiling, and Lakeside Interiors artist Karrie Kern faux painted the existing upper ceiling posts to match. The Winterich Company was responsible for the new oak woodwork. Workers from Carpets by Otto installed the black stone sanctuary floor and Lake Erie Electric provided the new lighting throughout the building.
“Crews from Lakeside Painting began their work after the church was reopened. The lifts were pushed to the back of the church during services and parishioners could watch progress as the walls were transformed into warm shades of beige, tan, and brown, complementing the rich oak wood of the sanctuary rood screen and pillars of the church. We carried out the pitch angle of the ceiling on the altar to the presider’s chairs, the top of each window, the frames above the statues of Mary and Joseph, and the ends of each of the new pews,” Billian stated.
“We were very excited when the new statuary of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Joseph and the Processional Cross, which we had commissioned by artisans at the Art Studio Demetz of Northern Italy, arrived and were seated in their places of honor. Blessed Mary and the Processional Cross to the left of the sanctuary and Saint Joseph to the left,” he said.
“We had planned to refurbish the pews, installed in the 1960s, but when the workers tried dismantling them, they discovered the pews were made of particle board covered with a thin veneer layer. We were encouraged to have new ones built, especially since the old pews fell apart as they were being removed. We also learned the cost for new ones was not much more than we would have paid for refurbishing old ones,” the Monsignor recalled.
“Seats were removed and as craftspeople at New Holland Church Furniture in Pennsylvania were constructing our new red oak pews, we held church services across the street in our Middle School on the East campus. At that time the blue carpeting was removed from the nave and the sanctuary exposing the original terrazzo floor. Professional Surface Restoration teams resurfaced those floors, which were in poor condition, restoring them to their original beauty complete with a protective finish,” Monsignor Billian stated.
“This step of the process took seven weeks to complete, and we were finally back in our newly refurbished church the first weekend in September, to everyone’s great joy!