Renovation
Our church renovation was
sparked by the offer of a Wicks
Organ, Op. 1210, circa 1934,
featuring 438 pipes plus Degan
chimes. It was restored by a retired
electrical engineer, Richard Reiff.
His charming wife, Dianne, told
him that if he died and the organ
was still in their shop, she would be
mad. The instrument requires its
own chamber to moderate the
sound, for which we stepped up our
efforts during the pandemic
suspension of church services to
renovate. Below is some of the
work:
The “church,” built in 1967, was
originally intended to be a multi-
purpose center. It featured a
massive central soffit dividing the
interior space into two sections.
You can see the framing for the new
organ chamber on the left, and the
complementary open server area on
the right.
The soffit is being removed,
making the space feel a lot bigger!
Here is a view at night while
parishioners were cleaning. We were
able to open the church for worship
on the weekend of May 23, 2020,
even though there were a number of
loose ends to tie up. The next step is
the sanctuary floor.
The organ console and pipes
have been installed.
In the summer of 2020, St. Edwin
received a grant from the Catholic
Foundation to install a sanctuary
floor. Jim Lardner of New Mexico
Travertine in Belen donated
Windsor Select limestone to us. We
are blessed!
Because we need a little Christmas...
With these last pictures we
complete phase one of our church
renovation. The sanctuary walls are
constructed, the organ installed,
and the floor is in place. What
should we do next? There are
already plans for weavings from our
sheep’s wool to be hung on the big
open west wall which you can see
above to the left. Maybe we will
find an amazing santero to craft us
an altar screen reredo bursting with
color. We’ll see what the
parishioners would like to do!