St. Mark’s Tower Restoration

In its status report to the members and friends of St. Mark’s in December 2023, the Tower Restoration Committee reported the following:

“ …. as 2024 begins, there remain several significant unknowns.  The total scope of the required restoration work is unclear and will depend on the results of further investigation of the tower’s internal structural elements.  As such the costs and the timeline required to complete the project are also uncertain.  What can be stated with some confidence is the total costs will certainly exceed the original budgetary estimates.”

These additional investigations, and the subsequent analysis and evaluation of alternatives, have now been completed, and it has been concluded that with the level of deterioration observed in both the external and internal elements of the tower, any long-term solution will require the complete deconstruction and reconstruction of a significant portion of the tower structure.  Ideally, this work should be completed within the next 5 to 6 years.

The costs to undertake such major restoration work would be an order-of-magnitude higher (i.e. 10 times higher) than any previously anticipated costs and as such would be beyond the ability of St. Mark’s and the local community to fund.  Other sources of funding from within the city or province would be required.

To maintain the structural integrity of the tower for the next five years, while alternative sources of third-party funding are pursued, a multi-year repair/maintenance program has been identified.  This program will include localized/prioritized repairs supported by bi-annual monitoring of the tower’s integrity before and after each winter.  Such repairs would be considered temporary in nature, pending reconstruction of the tower. 

A specific program of work has been identified for completion in 2024, This work will include temporary removal of the four tower pinnacles, as well as localized repairs to limit further water ingress into the tower structure. This work can be financed from funds already raised for the tower restoration.

A more detailed presentation will be provided to the congregation after the 10:30 worship service on September 8.