St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Medical Lake went through a makeover these past eight months.
According to parish member Jim Patterson, the church’s sacristy floor along the corner of the south and east brick walls had fallen though last August. During this time, the parish community moved into the Parish Hall for Mass and other functions.
A structural engineer from DCI Engineering in Spokane came to the church and discovered that the 18-inch crawl space in the room had floor trusses that sat on the cement foundation and were sheared off due to dry rot of the timbers from excess moisture. The engineer recommended removing the floor joists across the full extent of the rooms between the interior and exterior bearing walls.
According to Patterson, in 1931, the church was built with bricks from a nearby house that was torn down. The main sanctuary had a similar floor structure problem in 1957.
Patterson said the excessive moisture level in the crawl space was due to the storm water drainage coming from the roof, as well as water flowing from the streets and parking lots flowing toward the church.
Crews tore all of the floors out and filled crawl spaces with gravel. After they laid a plastic vapor barrier on top of the gravel, they poured 4 inches of concrete on top to create a new floor surface. New carpets were also installed and several plumbing and electrical updates were made to the building.
“We were trying to get it done by Easter and we were back open March 24,” Patterson said.
The first phase of the project totaled over $36,000. The parish raised $48,000 and the remainder of the funds will go toward correcting the church’s exterior storm-water drainage problem.
Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.
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