Oldest Church in Fredericksburg Gets a 'Lift'

Putting an elevator into a 150+ year old church is hard enough; but how about making it discrete enough to not disturb the visual integrity of the building? Call Tom Cruise people, cause we've got another Mission Impossible happenin' in Downtown Fredericksburg.

Since August of 2011, we've been hard at work designing a way to make the oldest church in Fredericksburg more accessible for the physically handicapped. After assessing the building, it was decided that the best place for an elevator would be just north of the sanctuary, below a narrow set of steps that were so beetle-bitten already, it was a surprise nobody took a tumble straight through the floor.

What's especially tricky about such a project is that an elevator is such a massive undertaking. Its sheer mass requires an immense amount of space. How do you carve out enough space for the elevator without disturbing the rest of the building? Through some careful planning, creativity and a lot of elbow grease, we've figured it out.

The entrance to the elevator is on the right side of the building, if facing the front facade. One of the large windows has been taken out to make way for a door that leads directly to the elevator entrance. The new door that will be put in is being designed congruously to the other windows on this facade, so as to blend in with the rest of the building. This paneled glass door will fit within the existing molding of the window that was removed. If this all sounds confusing, hold tight for a bunch of pictures as soon as we're done!