Pre-Bid Meeting Held for Phase 3

Our pre-bid meeting for Phase 3 “Tower Cricket Repair” was held on a sunny fall morning. The meeting was led by Principal Architect Doug Manley of the Spencer Preservation Group, and attended by four different firms: two from Massachusetts, and two from Connecticut, with several others expressing interest. All specialize in historic restoration sporting impressive resumes of projects completed on multiple historic properties across New England.

For the curious, a tower cricket is a sloped backing that diverts water away from the tower and down the roof. A roofer builds the cricket out of wood and then adds metal flashing on top. The repair of the tower cricket will be complex. It includes replacing the current failing cricket with a new cricket of steeper pitch. New copper flashing will be installed. The north facing tower will be stripped and repointed, and a leaky window sill on the first dormer window will be replaced. When complete, we should have completely stopped up the water ingress into the sanctuary that we have been experiencing.

In the pictures below, the group stands below the valley area between the church tower and main building where the old cricket is located, with Doug leading the discussion.

Final bids are due on Monday, November 14, 2022.