150 Federal St - C of NA application - inkind restoration of steeple windows11/24/2020
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Salem Historical Commission
98 WASHINGTON STREET, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS 01970 (978) 619-5685
Application for: CERTIFICATE OF NON-APPLICABILITY - HCNA-20-16
Date of
Submission:
November 19, 2020 Owner at Submission
(from Assessor)
ROMAN CATH ARCH OF
BOSTON;ST JAMES PARISH
Applicant name:Colleen Brewster Owner (from Applicant)
Applicant phone:215-872-8133 Owner Phone 617-746-5988 Applicant email:colleenbrewster@outlook.com Owner Email Peter_Moschetto@rcab.org Applicant is:
Address of Property: 150 Federal Street
Declared District: McIntire Year Built (From Assessor)1950
Occupancy (from
Assessor)
Zoning (From Assessor)R2
Building Type (from
Assessor)
Property Use (From
Assessor)
Type of Work: Ordinary Maintenance, Repair, or Replacement
Is work visible from
Public Way?
Proposed Work is visible from Public Way
Applicant's Description
of Work:
The fixed Gothic style windows at the South-West tower of St. James Church has are
beyond their useful life. Each grouping of windows are held in place by curvilinear wood
sash stops, but much of the wood tracery, muntins, mullions, and bottom rails have
significant deterioration that has caused the individual panes of the tower windows to
separate from the frame and fall to the ground below. This hazardous condition lead
church staff to cordon off the far-left entrance at the base of the tower and the
surrounding area with caution tape for the safety of its parishioners.
At the top of the tower there are a pair of windows on the East (Federal Street), South,
and West (Bridge Street), however; no windows exist on the North facing the roof of the
church. Each pair are fixed single pane windows with trefoil heads and geometric
tracery at the pointed arch above, over a flat panel transom, over a pair of trefoil arched
windows bifurcated with a wood mullion. The mid-level window openings are oversized
and in a stacked triple window configuration with a mid-span of six single pane trefoil
arched windows to the East and South. The oversized window at the rear is shortened
due to the proximity of the side aisle roof below. The wood tracery at the two three-sided
trefoil stained-glass clerestory windows above the Southern entrance also has also
begun to deteriorate.
Asbestos has been found in the putty of the tower windows, so an asbestos abatement
will be required. The proposed scope of work would include the immediate removal of
any loose windowpanes, the installation of temporary plywood over each window
opening during the winter months, and in the Spring of 2021, the windows will be
abated, restored using epoxy and mahogany to match all existing profiles, and painted
to match. This tower window restoration should be completed on or about August 1,
2021.