Work at the downtown Jamestown church to repair damage caused by seeping water is expected to begin in earnest. Scaffolding has been erected around a majority of the tower and is expected to remain in place for several months.

The Rev. Luke Fodor provided an update on the multi-million dollar project during a tour with The Post-Journal.

“We’ve invested a lot of dollars in the church in the last few years,” said Fodor, who estimates $300,000 has been invested in “exploratory costs” such as studies to understand the full scope of the damage.

“Part of this is to get the solutions figured out,” he said. “We have a great preservationist who is leading to make sure we do things the right way — understand the root causes. But you have to involve structural engineers all along the way, so we’ve already spent $300,000 just in the soft costs in how you’re going to do it.”

A worker is pictured inside St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where seeping water has caused damage to the historic structure. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

Fodor is intimately aware of the project’s scope and breadth.

A major flaw in the tower’s design and construction 130 years ago has allowed water to flow down to the church’s basement — creating a potentially serious safety hazard to the tower that is situated just off North Main Street. Inside, bare bricks also can be seen where water has caused plaster to come off the walls.

“Water just flows down,” Fodor said. “It’s meant to be that water flows in through the stone, because it is porous, hits the brick wall, which is a little less porous, and it leaks out through the joints.

“But because (the walls) aren’t flush, water just flows down all the way inside the building.”

Fodor arrived in 2013, not long after a lightning strike damaged a corner of the bell tower. An inspection revealed how much damage had been caused by water flowing between the tower’s interior brick wall and the stone facade.

The Rev. Luke Fodor said a flaw in the bell tower’s design and construction has allowed water to flow into the church. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

“My first week on the job they came to fix it and I found myself thrown into this project,” he said. “I’ve been scrambling ever since to kind of get it to a point where it’s not life-endangering and it will stand for another 130 years.”

He added, “To fix the issue, they’re going to essentially rebuild the inside wall, from the clock tower, all the way up.”

The church’s proximity to perhaps the city’s busiest street has presented its own set of challenges.

“The church is right on the sidewalk like in New York City, so that makes it complex,” said Fodor, who noted that just placing scaffolding around the tower has been difficult because the tower cannot support the metal structure.

When a giant lift was brought in two years ago to allow structural engineers to inspect the tower, an entire lane on North Main had to be closed as there was nowhere else for the equipment to be parked.

Paul Johnson, a member of the church council, went before the Jamestown Local Development Corp. earlier this month to request $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the tower restoration project. St. Luke’s application is for finanical hardship assistance.

Johnson said the COVID-19 pandemic delayed kicking off the project, causing expenses to spike by about $900,000.

“The restoration project was always going to be an exceedingly expensive project due to the nature of the required historic preservation work itself as well as to technical complexities of accessing St. Luke’s bell tower complicated by the steep grade of Main Street and the tower’s height,” he told JLDC members.

Beyond the current project, Fodor said the church will eventually have to address other structural needs. In some spots, gaps in the facade have become more evident and will need to be fixed. He noted that sagging stairs located on Fourth and North Main streets require repairs as well.

He alluded to the church’s rich history in the Jamestown community. He brought up past members, noting that Charles Goodell and Robert H. Jackson knew each other through the church

“We’ve been a place that raises up leaders,” he said. “We need to continue raising up leaders for the future, because our city needs more leaders. Our country needs more leaders. Faith communities do much more than just preach and serve the poor, they actually help foster community development, leadership development and that kind of work.”