Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, N.Y.

June 4, 2003

ALBANY, N.Y. — Cathedral, for most people, is of a structure designed and built to last for centuries.
The parishioners of the Catholic Diocese of Albany, N.Y., know better. Well before they celebrated the sesquicentennial of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the brownstone structure was coming down around worshippers’ heads.
Concerns about the condition of the cathedral date back for six decades. However, not until the late 1990s did church officials commit to a massive renovation program, with the first two phases replacing about 70 percent of the building’s façade.
To get through the first phase of the project, church officials turned to two firms recognized nationally for their renovation and restoration work – and who both happen to be in their own Albany backyard.
But, to help make sure the work does last for multiple centuries, the diocese and the architects are importing their replacement stone from a quarry much farther east than the Connecticut location that cut the original material.
The Rev. William Pape, rector of the cathedral, says problems with the building can be traced – at least in part – to an exchange recorded in correspondence between the architect, Patrick Charles Keely, and Bishop John McCloskey well before the groundbreaking for the first phase of the cathedral in 1848.
The gist of the letter is that the diocese could save $40,000 by opting to use sandstone from a new quarry in Portland, Conn., rather than the Palisades sandstone originally been specified for the project.
“On a project that was supposed to cost $250,000, that $40,000 is quite a savings,” says Pape. “Because it was a new quarry, the stone came from the overburden, so it wasn’t good quality.”
As if that wasn’t enough to get the project off on shaky footing, the stone was also cut poorly, then bedded vertically.
The main body of the church – inspired by the landmark cathedral in Cologne, Germany – was completed in 1852. Subsequent additions include the north tower (built 1861-62), south tower (1887-88) and the sacristy (1891-92). All of the stone for the additions also came from the Portland quarry, but only the stone in the sacristy and portions of the south tower was bedded properly.
Larry Wilson, a partner in the Albany, N.Y.-based Mesick-Cohen-Wilson-Baker, Architects LLC, and the principal designer on the restoration project, explains that the improper bedding of the stone caused problems for the structure almost from the beginning.
“Obviously, when sandstone is bedded in its natural state, sand is deposited horizontally over geologic eras,” he explains. “Here, it was turned so the natural planes are facing vertically, creating beds with natural failure planes. Through rain and the freeze-thaw cycles, you get wet fractures which cause the stone to delaminate in sheets.”
From time to time, the problems with the structure have become dire. Pape says that in 1938, major repairs were required because the walls were bowing due to the weight of snow on the roof. As a partial solution, the stone parapets – which were also flaking into the gutters – were removed, but an engineer recommended recladding the building with a harder stone, such as granite.
Wilson says the building has also been retooled at least twice, losing 50 percent or more of the stone that covers what is essentially a brick structure with plaster interior that’s common for its time.
“They’d go in and tool back the loose face of the stone, cutting away anywhere from 1”-2” of stone on a 4”-6” facing,” he says. “In some cases, there’s only 1”-2’ of stone left, and in many cases it’s gone right back to the brick.”
One of Wilson’s partners, John Mesick, first became involved with the cathedral and its problems in the mid-1970s. Mesick-Cohen-Wilson-Baker specializes in historic preservation and has been involved in the restoration of projects as well known as Thomas Jefferson’s home of Monticello, and Blair House, the President’s guesthouse across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House in Washington.
At that time, Wilson says the goal was providing services to maintain the building. And, while some substantive things have been done since then (mainly dealing with windows), the funds budgeted for upkeep on the cathedral haven’t allowed for much work beyond a lot of caulking to keep water out of the masonry.
Both Wilson and Pape agree that the situation with the façade came to a head one rainy October night in 1995. During a wedding, a large piece of stone fell from the north tower, creating substantial concern about the overall condition of the structure and the safety of those below it.
“That’s really what put in motion this effort to restore the exterior,” says Wilson. “There had been a couple restoration studies done during the previous three decades, but no one wanted to face the situation. I believe this event really forced their hand.”
Even then, other options were considered. Wilson says considerable analysis was done on whether masonry consolidation could be done, or if the stone could be patched using some other material.
“In the end, the diocese wasn’t looking for a 20- to 30-year solution,” he says. “They were looking for something that would allow them to repair the building and not have to go back and within the same generation do it again. The only long-term solution to the problem was to remove the facing.”
Still, it wasn’t until 1999 that Bishop Howard J. Hubbard announced the restoration of the cathedral and committed the money to doing the first phase. At that point, it became a question of finding a suitable stone for refacing that would also match the portions of the south tower and the sacristy that didn’t require replacement.
The architect and the rector began their search in North America, specifically with the Connecticut quarry that had supplied the original stone for the project. Wilson says that during the time the cathedral was being constructed, right up until the 1930s, there were several quarries in the same area – later consolidated – that turned out brownstone that went into buildings all around the country. The operation shut down during the Depression due to lack of demand, and a flood of the Connecticut River inundated the quarry.
In the early 1990s the quarry reopened, fueled by a demand for stone for restoration purposes. Despite problems with its performance on the building, Wilson says the biggest concern with using the original quarry was its small size, and whether it could supply the amount of stone needed for the project.
From there, the men – aided by stone consultant Harold Vogel – turned to Europe, and specifically to central Germany’s Main River valley, and to the United Kingdom where northwest England meets southern Scotland.
“We got on a plane and went to where those quarries are and talked with the quarry owners,” says Wilson. “We also talked with the fabricators in the vicinity of the quarries, because it became apparent early on that any economies to the project were going to be found in identifying good fabrication facilities close to the quarry we chose, to limit the amount of stone that had to be shipped before it was cut and fabricated.”
Along with color and cost, Wilson adds two other considerations: the quality of the stone, and the ability of the quarry and fabricators to meet the schedule planned for the project.
After fairly rigorous testing of stone samples and a bidding process, the group selected what’s known as a Beestone Red sandstone, quarried from a location near Whitehaven in the northwest England county of Cumbria. The stone has been used in buildings since the Middle Ages, and the quarry is one of 10 currently supplied by the Chesterfield, England-based Block Stone Ltd.
Block Stone’s sister company, Realstone Ltd., was selected for the fabrication portion of the contract. The company operates two British fabrication plants, one in Chesterfield and the other in Penrith.
Jill Gregory, Realstone’s U.S. representative based in Olathe, Kan., says the company typically handles a mix of stone for new construction and for restoration. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conceptions is its first major restoration project in the United States.
Gregory adds that Realstone employs a total of 70 people at its two fabrication plants, with most of the work being handled by the Penrith shop. Above half of the fabrication is being done with CNC machines, and the remainder is done by hand.
“We have been fabricating stone for 50 years, but the shipping of material to the U.S. via containers was all new to us,” Gregory says. “We spend all this time carving and cutting, and we don’t want the stones to move about in the containers; therefore, everything has to be packed in specially made crates.
“It’s not always one crate per piece, though; it depends on the size of the individual stone pieces. It’s important not to jeopardize the time and cost of the stone with poor shipping – but you have to be careful at all stages.”
The geographic distance between the quarry/fabricators and the project itself involved intense cooperation between Realstone, the architects and the project’s contractor, the Albany, N.Y.-based Western Building Restoration Company Inc. Western is a specialist in masonry restoration; among its recent projects is the restoration of the senate library in the Tennessee state capitol building.
“This project is really a coordinated effort with all the different disciplines involved,” says J.D. Gilbert, Western’s vice president. “We’ve had to work closely with the architects, with the engineers and the stone supplier. It’s been a very well coordinated effort, too.”
Despite the fact that as much as 95 percent of the north tower was described by one inspection as failing, Gilbert says the existing stone has had to be removed carefully. For instance, while about 75 percent of the stone on that tower has been removed, veneer on the steeple was left in place, leaving quite a bit of weight on the wall.
To ensure that the work proceeds safely, the architects hired a firm of consulting engineers, Ryan-Biggs Associates PC, of Troy, N.Y., to come in on a weekly basis to advise on shoring the tower walls and the placement of scaffolding.
And, because of the vertical nature of the job, Gilbert says safety is a big issue for the contractors and its crew of 15 laborers and masons.
“We’re limited on how many areas we can work on at one time,” he says. “You really can’t have men working over one another; they have to work at one level.”
All those considerations have to be weighed as the orders for the stone flow across the Atlantic and the finished pieces come back.
“The architects have done a commendable job of keeping the job measured and providing what we call ‘tickets’ for the individual stone units,” Gilbert says. “They get them to Realstone in a timely fashion so Realstone can produce the stone, ship it and get it through customs in a timely way.”
The nature of the job also involves a wide range of stone sizes. Gilbert says while some are fairly small ashlar units, others may be 6’-8’ long. Architect Wilson estimates some 12,000 individual stones are involved in just the first phase of the project, which will replace approximately 40 percent of the building’s façade.
Realstone’s Gregory agrees that the company works closely with the architects and contractors. Often, because of the company’s knowledge of stone fabrication, the drawings from the architect are redrawn and revamped to improve efficiency and sent back for approval before proceeding.
“That’s typical with a lot of buildings,” Gregory says. “The architect has an image of what’s to be done, but they don’t always see the best way to build it. We can say, ‘You’ll save money by cutting this way or altering the design a little, or the stone will stand up to the elements better if it’s in this shape or form.’ We work on the practical side and offer some advice.”
To further aid in that process, the manager of the fabrication unit and a site manager from Realstone have both visited the site to gain firsthand knowledge of the project, and the company loaned Western some stone carvers for a few weeks when that portion of the job fell behind at the site.
As it is, a master stonecarver and three apprentices are working at the jobsite. Stephen Boyle trained in England and most-recently worked on the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. While Gilbert estimated Realstone is handling at least 90 percent of the fabrication, there is a need for someone to do hand carving at the site.
“There are four clock faces that are being done on site,” Gilbert explains. “We’ve also had some problems with fitting some of the stone, so it’s recut on site. Also, when we’ve gotten stone that’s been damaged in transport or is defective – rather than ordering more – we’ll cut it on site. Rather than hold up the job, we’re able to address our problems immediately.”
However, Gilbert says none of the problems with the stone have been out of the ordinary, and on a couple of occasions when there wasn’t time to have the stone delivered by normal shipping, it’s been sent by air freight.
“For the most part it’s gone quite well,” says Gilbert, although plenty of work remains to be done on just the first phase, which also includes replacing the upper roof and the masonry parapets removed in the 1930s. It’s scheduled for completion at the end of the 2004 construction season.
Although Father Pape says it appears the first phase of the job will exceed the $8 million budgeted for it, the funds have been raised and committed for it.
The second phase, which will replace another 30 percent to 40 percent of the façade, will be scheduled once funds are available. Still later, restoration work will be done to the cathedral’s interior.
Architect Wilson says the reason for that scheduling is that there’s little sense in doing interior work until the exterior is watertight. The entire scope of the job is projected to take some 15 years, which Wilson explains isn’t unreasonable … given the almost 50 years it took to complete the building originally.
“They built what they could with the resources they had and deferred completion until they had more money,” he says. “That’s the reason for phasing the project now. Resources are limited and it’s a huge project.”
Regardless of when the second phase begins, both Gilbert and Gregory say they hope their companies can be involved in the next step, although they recognize that the need to bid the job may shut them out.
“What we find with a phase project is you don’t automatically get the next phase,” says Gregory. “They probably want to work with somebody they’ve worked with before, but they’ll have to justify it if our bid is more-expensive. Of course, we would hope to win the second phase through Realstone, but as an alternative our stone could be used by another fabricator. There are several ways to go forward with it.”
Echoes Gilbert, “They have to keep it competitive to control costs, but we’d like to think we’ll be involved in the next phase.”
Pape has nothing but praise for all those involved in the project, and he’s pleased that work is going forward. He notes that while visiting Europe, he saw buildings built of the Beestone Red sandstone that have already stood for centuries.
“We have every hope our stone will last 1,000 years,” he concludes. “This is a wonderful building and a wonderful gift that we’re passing on to future generations. I feel very happy to do it.”

Client: Catholic Diocese of Albany, Albany, N.Y.
Designer: Mesick-Cohen-Wilson-Baker, Architects LLC, Albany, N.Y.
Stone Supplier/Fabricator: Realstone Ltd., Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Contractor: Western Building Restoration Company Inc., Albany, N.Y.