The Chapel Bell Presented by the Maple Street Chapel Preservation Society, Inc. Volume 15, Issue No. 3 Summer, 2014 A New Major Chapel Initiative By Ken Bohl, Facilities Director Consider this interesting discussion I had. I was talking to a historical restoration engineer, someone who managed major projects. The subject was a stunningly beautiful church in New Jersey. The church was originally built without a steeple, and a steeple was added later. The building began to fail structurally under the added weight, the steeple sinking down, and the walls spreading. Imagine what a major costly project it was to lift up the steeple, add additional support, and draw the walls back in. It cost hundreds of thousand of dollars and took six months. But it was successful. Then a couple months later they replaced the gutters, and decided to install historic copper gutters, which are soldered together on-site. Can you guess what’s next? By the time the fire department arrived, the church was completely engulfed in flames, and was a total loss. Did that catch you by surprise? Well, that’s exactly the way it happens in real life. The last thing you expected, just when all seemed well. What if the next time you drove through downtown Lombard our beloved Chapel was gone? Can you even imagine not seeing it on that corner where it has stood for 144 years? What if it no longer stood as the beckoning landmark that holds our precious community history and personal memories? The thought of this scenario makes me heartsick. The Chapel already has a state-of-the-art fire security system with 25 sensors throughout the building tied into a central panel that directly calls the fire department. But the sad reality remains . As quickly as the fire department could arrive for an alarm, if there was an active fire in progress, unless there were trapped people to be saved, it would be unsafe for them to even enter the Chapel. They would do the best they could fighting the fire from the outside, which would probably only succeed in preventing the fire from spreading to other buildings. So what is the solution? To install a fire sprinkler system. One in which one or more sprinklers would be automatically triggered by heat to spray water directly on a fire. The top-notch Lombard Fire Department is still our best defense, but if there was to be a raging fire which kept them from entering the building, the sprinklers would become the primary fire fighter. Rest assured that the image you have seen of a sprinkler system going crazy and all the sprinklers going off at once is strictly a Hollywood creation. Each sprinkler sprays, and shuts off individually, and only where a fire is detected. Continued on Page 3 Page 1. Who are “Friends of the Maple Street Chapel Society?” By Doris Schertz, Membership Vice President All who support the Maple Street Chapel Society’s efforts to preserve Maple Street Chapel for future generations are “Friends of the Chapel.” This includes all those who offer their hands, hearts and resources, as in sweat equity and financial support. Annual membership gifts at various levels of support, provide funds for ongoing expenses. Larger gifts can be earmarked for the Endowment Fund, where the money is invested for growth and the earnings provide funds for preservation of the Chapel in the future. Special gifts can be dedicated for outright purchases or repairs, and can be earmarked in memory or recognition of a person, event or commemorative time. The Chapel Bell, our newsletter, comes out quarterly in the Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Through this venue, the Chapel Society board and committee members contribute articles that keep us informed of the Chapel’s issues, needs, maintenance and repairs, open houses and tours, concerts, programs and our new “Friends.” Once our editor has compiled all the news, needs, articles, photos of activities and lists of new “Friends,” The Chapel Bell is printed and mailed to all Donors, friends and participants. We want EVERYONE who cares about Maple Street Chapel to read The Chapel Bell – your neighbors, your children, family who have moved out of town, Village businesses and more. With your gift at any level, please include the names and addresses of those you would like, added to our mailing list, okay? Make your gift or check payable to: Maple Street Chapel Preservation Society, Inc. (MSCPS, Inc.) While we love to tell our Friends about other Friends, you can always request your name be withheld from the list by contacting Jeanie McCoy, Chapel Bell Editor at 630-627-2379. Page 2. The Fire Sprinkler Project (continued) Our initial impressions of this project are: 1. There would be very little impact to the historic appearance of the building. There are easy passageways for the large pipes from basement to attic, so it’s unlikely any walls would have to be damaged. The only visible things would be the little sprinklers on the ceiling. These are much smaller than the existing smoke detector, so we probably would barely notice them. 2. At this point it is difficult to pin down an exact cost. We had an initial evaluation done and while there are many unknown costs, we feel that a realistic total cost would be $150,000. Yeah, that’s a lot! Being realistic, this is likely to be at least a 3-year fund-raising effort. We don’t want to wait until 2016 or 2017, but if we start saving now, at least we know that we are working towards that day. This is such an important project to ensure the ongoing preservation of our historic treasure. So please see the enclosed donation sheet. As we did with the roofing project, we have designated giving levels, but anything you can spare would be appreciated to make this preservation effort a reality. You can mail the enclosed donation page with your check to Maple Street Chapel 220 S Main St Lombard IL 60148 or if you would like to pay with a credit card or PayPal, go to the web site www.MapleStreetChapel.Org . However you make your contribution, a receipt for tax deduction purposes will be mailed to you. Upon completion of this project, a plaque will be created in appreciation of all donors (unless you wish to not be listed). Let’s work together to ensure that this never happens to the Maple Street Chapel! Page 3. Gifting Opportunities We are going to make this a regular feature in most issues of the Chapel Bell. This is not a fund-raising effort. We tell you when we are in a financial bind, but we don’t want to constantly be asking you for more. We receive numerous cash gifts, whether it’s a memorial for a loved one, a tax refund, or a special event. This feature presents to you options for assigning a gift to a specific use you would especially be happy to know you facilitated. We are, of course, raising funds for the fire sprinkler system. But if you prefer to fund a smaller project completely yourself, here are some options: Chair/Furniture Restoration: Portable podium: $350 Five ornate Bavarian chairs at the front of the sanctuary: $100 each Four wood chairs around the table in the Reade Room: $200 each Podium falling apart 5 Bavarian chairs in pretty good shape. It needs refinishing. They just need preventative maintenance for details which have come loose 4 chairs have loose joints, need refinishing Page 4 Sunday School Children Tour the Chapel In the photo, Mrs. Betty Meyer is shown counting the sides Of the octagon table, the Church’s first pulpit. On Sundays in April, the First Church of Lombard Sunday School classes took a tour of the Maple Street Chapel. The children learned about its special features, its steeple and bell, calico windows, pews, altar, and board and batten siding, the history of the Chapel and its historical significance to the Village of Lombard’s Library and the contributions of early Chapel members. The Chapel was Lombard’s first public library originated with Josiah Reade’s personal library which he donated to the Chapel. Lombard’s current Helen Plum Library resides on the site of Colonel William Plum’s and Mrs. Helen Plum’s former home and its extensive Lilac Gardens is now Lilacia Park. Many of the children were hoping to bring their parents to tour this historic building, the very first church in Lombard and the site of the first library in Northern Illinois. If you have a group that would like to tour this famous Lombard landmark, call 630-627-0171 to make arrangements. Page 5. DOCENT'S VOICE Joann Richardson, Docent Director "Welcome to the Maple Street Chapel" Carol VonHolst replied to our request in the Spring Docent's Voice for recognizing names of people who were married in the Chapel. Carol's daughters were married in The Chapel on the following dates: February 29, 1979 Vickie & Manney Mosa September 22, 1980 Valerie & Charles Langeein Carol shared the excitement of her younger son had ringing the Chapel bell at the weddings. Please visit an open house and share the excitement the boys enjoyed and you too, can ring the bell. Share your wedding date. Trivia question: How tall is the steeple reaching to the sky? Last month’s trivia question answered by Ken Bohl: "Calico" is the name that has been used for the Chapel's windows since as long as anyone can remember. However, the word is not used for stained glass in any reference to be found.