Once hidden but now recovered, original imagery of chapel vestibule inspires again.
Jeff Duchene paints delicate imagery stenciled along the ceiling arch of the main chapel’ s narthex. A generous donation from St. Vincent Ferrer Parish funded the project.
Restored to Glory
Once hidden but now recovered, original imagery of chapel vestibule inspires again.
No one at the seminary remembers when it happened exactly.
Regrettably, it did happen. The walls, decorative molding, arches, and barrel-vaulted ceiling of the narthex, or entrance vestibule, of the main chapel were at some point painted over. The white paint covered up delicately stenciled and hand-painted images of birds, praying angels, flowing grapevines, floral patterns, Eucharistic symbols, tiny crosses and stars, along with the original teal color of the ceiling— presumably for all time.
All remained hidden, that is, until this summer. Duchene Miller LLC, a restorative painting company from Haslett, Michigan, has just completed a two-month project to recover the original imagery and original colors and bring the narthex back to its former glory.
The decorative images were rediscovered only by chance. The narthex suffered major water damage in 2008 when its roof flashing failed after a heavy rain. As Sacred Heart’ s painter, Robert Fellenz, began to peel away damaged plaster and paint, his scraper revealed the fine details of religious imagery in colors of beige, rusty red, salmon, deep blue-green, and even gold leaf.
“ The stenciling looked original,” says John Duncan, director of facilities management,“ which was an exciting find from a historical perspective.” But since the discovery did not directly affect the life of the seminary,“ we had to let it go.” But nature would intervene again. Another heavy rain caused water to leak into
Daniel Gallio
the narthex ceiling. The water caused ugly“ effervescence”— whitish minerals began to seep from the arched limestone window surrounds of the narthex. The seminary administration decided in the summer of 2015 to have the surrounds thoroughly cleaned. Seminarian Craig Marion, who has a lively interest in historic preservation, noticed the work going on— which reminded him of the stenciling beneath the narthex’ s paint.
“ Would you mind if I found a donor to pay for the narthex to be returned to its original condition?” Craig asked Mr. Duncan.“ Not at all,” Mr. Duncan replied.
Craig asked his pastor, Sacred Heart alumnus Fr. John Esper of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Madison Heights, if he would be open to covering the restoration costs.“ We were happy to do it as a parish,” says Father Esper.“ The seminary deserves to be taken care of. We were happy to help out.”
“ When you come into a project like this and are asked to‘ take it back’ to what
it once was, you get a good feeling about this type of work,” says Jeff Duchene, coowner with his daughter, Jaqueline Miller, of Duchene Miller. Mr. Duchene has been doing restorative painting and repairing of historic structures for thirty years. His many projects include churches throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Mr. Duchene, Ms. Miller, and team member Kenneth Tudrick began work in June first by researching the decorative designs and colors popular in the 1920s, the decade the seminary building was completed( 1924).“ The hand-painted motif and stencil work is in the Arts and Crafts style,” Mr. Duchene explains.“ The crosses on the ceiling field are English. The grapevines are Romanesque. All combine well with the chapel’ s Gothic Revival architectural style.”
Next came the hard work: scraping away paint, sanding, repairing plaster, and laying down base paint. Although much of the original ornamentation had been lost to water damage, Duchene Miller was able to re-create the ornamentation by tracing the remaining designs onto transfer paper for hand painting and onto clear vellum for cutting stencil board.
“ We went back to the Arts and Crafts era to match the colors, too,” says Mr. Duchesne, who is a purist for maintaining historical accuracy.
“ The narthex is an area of the chapel that is not often noticed, but it has its own beauty and purpose,” says Msgr. Todd Lajiness, Sacred Heart’ s rector.“ The narthex prepares our hearts to encounter the Lord as we enter the sanctity of the chapel.”
Monsignor invites guests to examine the restored designs.“ I think you’ ll agree with me that it looks fantastic.”
Daniel Gallio is Mosaic’ s editor.
Sacred Heart’ s building earned a place on the National Register of
Historic Places in 1983. Please contact Marita Ladosenszky, Office of Institutional Advancement, 313-596-7409, to help with other preservation projects.
36 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Fall 2016