The February 28, 2001 Nisqually Earthquake hit local churches harder than any other group of historic buildings. This disproportionate amount of damage, which hit Seattle's churches as they commemorated Ash Wednesday, is due to the nature and complexity of the church building designs, as well as to decades of deferred maintenance. Funding for repairs and upkeep has waned with the dwindling populations of many urban congregations. Despite this, a few local churches, such as Trinity Parish Episcopal at the corner of Eighth Avenue and James Street on First Hill, have devoted themselves to the long-term preservation of their historic facilities.

Trinity was designated a City landmark on December 20, 1976. The church's clergy and parishioners value this status and have demonstrated a deep passion for historic preservation at this property. The process of analysis, planning, repairing and restoring Trinity Episcopal after the earthquake took five years and was accomplished in concert with the City's Landmarks Preservation Board to assure historic authenticity. The church community will dedicate its rehabilitated spiritual space on February 11, 2006 and Historic Seattle members are especially invited to attend because of the preservation connection.

Trinity Rector The Reverend Paul Collins demonstrated a passion for preservation as he described how ninety-eight percent of the 350-member parish pledged $2.6 million for the post-earthquake rehabilitation fund. The larger Episcopal world also donated $700,000 with accompanying letters about weddings and other memorable events that took place at the church decades ago. Associate Rector Katherine Sedwick said parishioners told her their rehabilitation donations felt "almost like a car payment" because they were so invested in the church building's future. One retired parishioner cancelled a European vacation to donate to the church's earthquake fund. Collins also described with gratitude the assistance provided by Senator Maria Cantwell's office to obtain a $2.2 million FEMA grant for the rehabilitation.

Not the largest Episcopal parish in Seattle, Trinity's community was formerly composed primarily of senior citizens and earned the nickname "Saint Geriatricus." The Church's rehabilitation, along with the influx of families and younger single people as residents of downtown and First Hill, has increased the size of the parish along with the median age of its parishioners. Collins expressed sadness that the First United Methodist Church at Fifth and Columbia downtown chose not to value its historic sanctuary and has opted for demolition. He felt that Trinity's experience has demonstrated that the church can be saved along with their downtown ministry. He said his new parishioners have breathed new life into the rehabilitated church and believed that First United Methodist's commitment to the downtown poor could benefit from a similar approach.

Trinity’s historic sanctuary, with its English Gothic massing, detailing and stonemasonry, was red-tagged after the quake. To help measure the damage, the vacated sanctuary was pocked with discrete holes used to gauge damage and slippage. The northeast corner spire, one of the church's most distinguishing features, had separated slightly from the rest of the building during the earthquake. It became so unstable that repair crews were reluctant to work on that part of the project.

With a building dating from 1903, the members of Trinity Parish Episcopal Church considered ways to further its mission and generate revenue toward that goal. A long-standing alliance with Northwest Harvest Food Bank was perpetuated with the Cherry Street Distribution Center housed in one of the church's buildings. Last year, Northwest Harvest supplied food to 300 food banks and feeding programs around the state without fees. Thanks in part to Trinity's support, over eighteen million pounds of food were distributed. Father Paul Collins sees the church's support for the food bank, the rehabilitation of the sanctuary, and the welcoming door to all people as part of the church's mission. While pointing out architectural design elements on the rehabilitated interior, he said "even homeless people need a beautiful place to worship."

Trinity engaged Bassetti Architects, a Seattle-based firm with a varied portfolio of new construction and preservation work, to help with this planning effort, and RAFN Company construction contractors to implement the design. In addition to its sanctuary and adjacent structures, Trinity owns land near the church that it wanted to develop into housing. Immediately after the earthquake, the church hired John Riley of ABS-EQE Engineers, a local firm with experience with historic structures, to conduct an initial analysis and shoring. Trinity also engaged RAFN Company as construction contractors at the same time Historic Seattle hired RAFN to manage the post-earthquake rehabilitation of the Cadillac Hotel in Pioneer Square.

Architecture firms do much more than shape the appearance of old and new construction. In this case, Don Brubeck of the Bassetti firm acted as designer for the rehabilitation project, coordinating the work of many disparate contractors and subcontractors to make sure all efforts interconnected. In addition to new trussing beneath the roof in the nave which can hold a maximum of 486 people, Brubeck inserted a raised platform in front of the high alter to feature a secondary altar and created a new perspective and depth for the rear of the nave.

The earthquake damaged many of Trinity's internal systems and affected the temporary use of spaces within the facility. Repair and restoration work often involves the temporary dismantling of historic features, or partial replacement of historic materials. These have been carefully restored since this parish values beauty in its spiritual space, appreciates the church’s historic significance, while serving its spiritual mission and providing material assistance to the community. Today Trinity enjoys new electrical, HVAC, acoustical, and plumbing systems, except for the original steam pipes which remain functional. Original quatrefoil cutouts in the elaborate interior woodwork, fashioned from local timber, have been carefully restored.

Trinity’s exterior masonry of Wilkeson sandstone from Black Diamond is one of its most defining features, and received a great amount of consideration within the master restoration plan. Before the earthquake, the lime mortar had deteriorated and in some places been replaced by Portland cement. Spalling, or flaking masonry, occurred where cement had been used. Like sandblasting historic brick buildings, applying Portland cement causes long term damage by degrading the historic bricks or stones in contact with the material. In the Trinity restoration, masonry specialists matched new mortar with the historic lime mortar, as well as the jointing details. The new joints match the historic revealing very wide one-quarter beaded joints that resemble the veins of a leaf.

In some places, the stone had to be completely dismantled. Planning for this involved detailed drawings of the stone walls, and numbering each stone so that every one could be reinstalled exactly as it had been. Walter Bazylewcz, a skilled stone mason and carver of Keystone Masonry, was in charge of this piece of the plan. Bazylewcz’s other work includes ornate carvings, traditional column capitols and stone wine cellars. Brubeck noted that a lot of engineering firms without historic preservation experience discredit the structural integrity of historic masonry. Traditional stonework relied upon an empirical understanding and calculation of strength. Because no one builds with these techniques anymore, the strength of historic masonry is hard to measure. This unknown element disturbs engineers, building code officials, banks, and insurance companies that finance older masonry buildings.

Engineers dealt with Trinity's shaky corner tower by bracing it with steel pipes inside and steel cables outside the structure soon after the earthquake with crack monitors installed to measure shifts. Crack monitors involve two targets on a wall that move back and forth. Some movement throughout each year was anticipated and is typically associated with seasonal freeze-thaw. The seismic retrofitting of the tower resulted in walls three feet thick.

As contractors dismantled the stone for repairs, they noticed the wooden sill supporting the rafters had rotted. Church officials had noticed leaks in the past and made makeshift repairs, but had not forestalled the wood rot. The comprehensive plan for the building solved this longstanding problem by adding steel tension rings at the base of the rafters. Prezant and Associates was called in to handle this hazardous materials abatement process. A borate treatment was applied to the timbers to arrest dry rot and worked like plant food sticks: waxy borate-treated rods were inserted into the wood and gradually dissolved as water leaked in. The borate killed the microorganisms that caused the rot.

The church's seismic retrofit, which included the most dangerous work, was done by RAFN Company. After removing all of the plaster and lathe from the exterior stone walls, and then removing the basement and the perimeter of the first floor while leaving the 100-year-old major floor supports intact, the RAFN crew carved and chiseled out the grooves in the stone walls to insert the steel I-beams. These were twelve-to-eighteen inches wide and had to span the entire height of each wall in two or more places. During this cutting work, the historic stones shifted and the work had to slow to a tense and exacting process. Workers had to change cutting methods and progressions just to keep the building intact as they went from the basement to the highest portions of the walls. Most of the original supporting structures remained solid. Stone and mortar piers four-to-five feet wide (and just as high) were placed in the basement with heavy wooden timbers resting on them to support the upper floor. The piers were left in place and will still be there for the next church rehab in 2105.

All of Trinity's stained glass windows were fabricated in Munich, Germany. Those along the sanctuary walls were installed before World War II, and the clerestory windows along the roof eave were installed after the war. German glass experts sometimes fly to Seattle to visit Trinity and examine the artistry of the windows because the plant where they were made was destroyed during the war. Trinity's parishioners understand that these windows have become historic artifacts to understand past manufacturing techniques in addition to their aesthetic and spiritual appeal.

Earthquake damage challenged Trinity's congregation and its clergy and staff to raise funds quickly to enable repairs and restoration to take place on schedule. The church has done a phenomenal job, with the help of a fundraising consultant. To meet their $5 million capitol campaign goals, the church sold off some of its property, a difficult choice for any religious congregation. Collins, an upbeat and energetic practical optimist, mentioned that the effort has helped the congregation understand what the building means to them. Trinity now stands much stronger and better protected against future disasters than any time in its history.

For more information on Historic Seattle's multi-year participation in the rehabilitation of this sacred site, please visit our July 2002 article at: More about Trinity Church.

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