.About a month ago, Union Presbyterian folks were informed at Session meeting that a hidden wall existed in the attic and that the men working on the new elevator had checked out the cables and machinery (winch behind the sanctuary) and declared them in amazingly good shape-even considering their age.
Let me stop here and give some background--that I have already written into my facebook page. The church building was erected in the 20's (at least this is what I've been told- I have not been here that long) It is said that the moveable wall was kept down and only raised when a bigger seating area was required for a large gathering (wedding/funeral/special worship service). Brownwood became a much larger town when, during WWII, it hosted Camp Bowie. I have been told that the church was packed during that time, with chairs having to be brought in to seat everyone. The wall was kept up during that time. I am guessing that the groove into which the wall moved (up and down) was considered unsightly and those in charge had an attractive molding nailed permanently over the groove--permanently sealing the wall up in the attic. And seemingly the wall was forgotten for a really long time.
Fast forward 60+ years.. Our sanctuary is NOT packed with worshipers at the moment and we sort of rattle around in the extremely large worship space. We have become used to a smaller worship area since October when our OLD elevator was declared out of compliance by the state regulatory agency and we were required to install a new one. We had to evacuate the sanctuary area while the work was being completed (October-March) and have been worshiping in the Fellowship Hall (a smaller space).
As we are preparing to return upstairs, we are hoping to retain the small, close, friendly atmosphere we have enjoyed in the basement.
ENTER THE HIDDEN WALL.
The session voted to go ahead and work on lowering the wall. The date was chosen for preparation and for lowering. Notice went out to those who wanted to come watch.
The boards in the molding came off w/ very little problem. Few miscellaneous items were found under the boards--long dead wiring, a carpenter's pencil and a dessicated bird skeleton.
The kind, generous and strong elevator installers assisted with the "lowering"--I'm sure it could not have been accomplished with out them. More about them later.
Several members of the congregation gathered to watch the event.
Before the wall was lowered the sanctuary looked like this.
The molding which was added to "pretty up" the sanctuary and to permanently trap the wall in the attic.
The winch, --note -it is full of the cable which is attached to the wall---later picture shows the AFTER winch, empty of cable.
The next pictures are stages of the lowering process. (And many thanks to Valeri for taking some of these pictures for me)
The empty winch
I talked to the people who were upstairs in the attic facilitating this event. I was told that the track the wall came down in was gummy and sort of swollen. The wall didn't just slide down. The three guys in the attic were pushing and shoving and at one point, jumping on the top of the wall to get it to slide down the groove. (Actually if there had been adequate light, that would have been the place to be with a video camera) When these guys were finished, they were exhausted. Now think about the guy on the crank. You've seen it. I can imagine that his slow cranking and holding and cranking and holding over a 45 minute period was also exhausting. As I mentioned, this probably could not have happened without them. And without Tracy, who's idea this activity was in the first place and who was in the attic doing pushing and shoving himself. Thanks guys and thanks a million, Tracy
The way the smaller sanctuary looks today--March 19, 2009
Upclose
The backside of the hidden wall from the soon to be prayer room or chapel.
The same view as before the wall was lowered.
Any questions?
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