By the Madill Church Preservation Society
The Madill Church Preservation Society (MCPS) is pleased to announce the work required to revitalize the Madill Church has begun.
Earlier in April, workers fenced the site and began dismantling the church, starting with the vestibule and then the roof. Next, the walls will be removed, logs numbered and securely stored, and a foundation prepared.
“Our plan has always been to ensure the future preservation of the building from the ground up,” said Carolynn MacKay, President of the MCPS. “This meant putting in a proper foundation. We looked at various ways to achieve this including lifting the building in place. After consulting with log experts, it was determined that the best approach would be to dismantle the logs, replacing those that were showing signs of rot, and then reassembling the building. It turns out this was great advice! As workers were dismantling the interior wall cladding it became apparent that the building would not have had the integrity needed to be lifted in place.”
The MCPS purchased 14 logs to replace those that need replacing (plus a few spare). These have been peeled, milled, and squared and have been ‘aging’ for the past year. The windows of the church were removed last fall and have been restored. They are ready for painting and replacement in the building. Once logs are removed, work will begin on a block foundation for the building that will be faced with a dry stone stack to maintain the building’s historic look. The MCPS will ‘top off’ the restoration with a new trussed roof that should see the building through at least another 150 years.
Once the logs are reassembled, the interior will have the wallboard and wainscoting replaced. “It was our hope to be able to save and replace these same boards,” said MacKay, “however it quickly became clear that we would be disappointed on that count. The boards were quite dry and brittle (and the nails used were strong and hard), making removal without damage impossible. As well, there had also been quite a bit of mouse activity within the old walls over the years creating some dry rot and decay in parts of the wainscoting. In the end we decided we will save what we can and use it to ensure we get matching boards milled to replace the wallboard and wainscoting when we get to that step.
“When the Madill Church was built in 1872/73,” added MacKay, “it was the members of the community that worked together to construct the building and here we are 150 years later doing the same with local builders and trades to help restore this historical structure.”
The MCPS sends out a great big THANK YOU to those who have donated and supported the preservation of this historic square log building.
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How delightful!! We attended at Remembrance Day ceremony there a few years ago. The church and grounds gave one a sense of awe. I have no doubt this group of amazing people will do an excellent job refurbishing.