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| Center aisle of newly renovated St. Peter Church in Mansfield, Ohio |
St. Peter in
Mansfield is a large, Romanesque church, in the heart of Ohio. The
traditional architecture, with vaulted ceilings and intricate ornament lends
itself to decoration. In 1944 St. Peter's commissioned artist, John
Bernat to paint the interior of the church. His elaborate murals, and
complex color scheme highlighted the church's beauty. Sadly, much of his
work was overpainted in 1970, when liturgical trends called for simplicity.
After a 1991 fire, the church was painted again, in a palette of cremes and
gold.
St. Peter contracted
with Henninger's EverGreene Architectural Arts, and The Schantz Organ Company
to preserve the historic murals and stained glass; repair damaged plaster;
reinstate a harmonious interior decorative scheme; renew the furnishings and
pews; and restore the organ.
Work began with preconstruction planning
to establish a scope of work that addressed the most pressing concerns,
maximized the budget, and allowed for a strategic approach to implementation.
In the preconstruction phase EverGreene investigated conditions, designed
new artwork, and selected colors. Henningers evaluated all of St. Peter's 103
stained glass windows to determine which windows were most in need of
restoration.
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| Stained glass removal |
Site work was addressed in phases
beginning with the sanctuary and moving into the nave, transepts, and narthex.
Henninger's team repaired all plaster, prepped the walls and applied two coats
of straight painting. Straight painting is the solid, background in the field
areas of the walls and ceilings. Before the 2018 renewal marble statuary
blended into the walls and artwork on the ceiling seemed to be floating in
space. Custom patterning in these areas integrated the liturgical elements into
the architecture and brought them back into relationship with one another.
EverGreene conserved John Bernat's historic murals and created new artwork
including patterning, lettering, and decorative throughout as well as new
trompe l'oeil statue niches in the style of the existing altars and stencils to
bring the Mary and Joseph altars into proportion with the architecture.
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| Dancefloor atop scaffolding |
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| Nave with full scaffolding |
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| EverGreene's artist's sketch of back sanctuary wall patterns and artwork on apse ceiling |
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| By adding a pattern of religious symbols behind the altar, the walls provide a backdrop for this historic marble piece. |
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| New stenciling on the ribs and around the murals of Christ and the Four Evangelists connect each historic mural |
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| Capital and murals depicting the life of St. Peter |
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| Vaults at transept crossing |
Pews were removed from the church and refinished in Henninger's
warehouse. Each pew was repaired if needed, then stripped down to the
bare wood, stained, and finished. This was the some of the most labor intensive
work in Henninger's scope.
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| Pew refinishing |
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| Pew refinishing |
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| Pew end after refinishing |
Henninger's did extensive work on the
floors at St. Peter's. The hardwood floor under the pews was removed and
new hardwood was installed, stained, sanded and finished. The existing
marble floor was polished and restored, and areas of the old hardwood replaced
with new marble tiles to match the historic tiles.
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| Polishing existing marble floor |
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| Sanding new hardwood |
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| Sanding new hardwood |
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| Polished existing marble floor (top middle of picture), new marble floor (top left), and existing marble floor before cleaning & polishing (bottom of picture) |
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| Finished floor |
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| Restored stained glass windows |
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| Marian Shrine |
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| St. Joseph Shrine |
The pipe organ was fully restored by Schantz with a new console.
We are very proud of our work at St. Peter Church - every single employee at Henninger's contributed to this amazing transformation. We enjoyed collaborating with EverGreene Architectural Arts and Schantz Organ Company. Henninger's is very grateful to the Project Manager, David Barber for all of his efforts in coordinating the work. We were happy to work for pastor, Rev. Gregory Hite, who kept a positive outlook and accommodating nature through the entire renovation. Henninger's is especially excited for the parishioners of St. Peter - who deserve a church as splendid as their community.
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| St. Peter Church - Mansfield, Ohio |
Photo credit: Nick Heyob
