November 23, 2021
Work Has Begun!
Arlington Street Church is registered as a historic landmark by the City of Boston, the State of Massachusetts, and the US Government for good reason; the architecture is formidable, the Tiffany windows are unrivalled; our role in social/historical events is noteworthy, and our present-day programming reaches hundreds of people each week in many different community spheres. But “Landmark Status” is both a blessing and a burden. While we can rest assured that the form of the building will not be altered, there’s no specific commitment at the City, State or Federal levels to fund the high maintenance and restoration costs that “landmarking” often imposes. For churches like ours, this financial burden puts a small congregation under pressure to find both extraordinary funding and personal involvement both from within and from the broader community.
Only the finest materials were used to build this landmark. Ours is a building clad in brownstone, the roof is slate, the windows are irreplaceable works of art. 160 years of seasonal conditions mixed with acid rain, changing water tables and the turbulence of surrounding construction projects have taken their toll on these fragile materials, and preservation includes expensive and laborious techniques to achieve.
We’ve enlisted Bruner/Cott as our architects, a firm with world-class preservation experience. Paired with SGH engineers, they make a formidable team to guide us to maintain best practices in our approach. Our contractors, Phoenix/Bay State, is a union shop with deep experience and knowledge of preservation masonry. Together with other specialty consultants, we are embarking on a multi-stage, multi-million dollar project of “lifetime preservation.”
I’ll post periodic updates on our preservation progress on this web page. I hope you enjoy following the granular details of the restoration process, and I encourage you to send questions and comments to restorationchair@ascboston.org.
Jon Andersen-Miller, Restoration Chair
Friends of 20 Arlington Street
restorationchair@ascboston.org