Repairs are still ongoing at King Chapel this year.
Scott Ladwig, Cornell College construction projects manager, provided an update on the King Chapel project at the Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission meeting Saturday, Sept. 3.
Crews have drilled 52-foot-deep moorings in the ground outside the west wall of the building, Ladwig said.
“Crews are in the process of removing pews from the interior of King Chapel and preparing the building for large interior scaffolding platforms that will fill the building,” Ladwig said. “This will create access for the crews to work on the building and provide a support system for the roof and wall repairs to the building.”
Ladwig said the bulk of the roof truss repairs will start this winter.
Part of the work crews will be evaluating is the extent of the damage to the western foundation wall.
“Once the scaffolding is in place inside, contractors will be able to demo the plaster inside on the western wall to allow us to further examine the interior side of the stone wall,” Ladwig said. “Holes will also be cut into the ceiling and the insulation will be removed to thoroughly examine all the roof trusses.”
Ladwig said people might have seen drones flying around King Chapel. Those have been used by forensic engineers to help complete a 3D imaging scan of the building from the inside out.
“This imaging will inform contractors as to precisely what the building’s structure is doing and will give contractors the full knowledge of the needed repairs,” Ladwig said.
Ladwig specified that the west wall (closest to Bowman-Carter Hall) and the east wall (closest to Old Sem) have reflected damage that will need repairs. The extent of that damage and level of repairs are still being determined.
Walter P. Moore is the forensic engineering team for the project, and Mortenson is the general contractor on the project.