Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of the renovation work being done on the tower at First Christian Church in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, May 30, 2023.
Talk about an inside look at a noted architect’s work.
The iconic First Christian Church tower’s repair work recently was at a stage of cracked or worn brick removal and replacement that those passing by could see inside the 166-foot-tall structure that stands alongside the church. Add that has created a buzz among tourists, according to Erin Hawkins with the Columbus Area Visitors Center.
“Just about every visitor who comes into our building mentions the tower project,” said Hawkins, director of marketing. “They have lots of questions like, ‘Are they moving it? Are they tearing it down?’
“Our staff has been educating folks about the restoration project and why the tower is a significant element in our downtown, and in the overall design story of Columbus. People who have gotten a peek inside the tower have been surprised to see that it’s just one big, open space.”
Indeed, people also could see where workers from F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co. of Indianapolis had installed steel beams on the interior to brace the structure during the replacement effort. They also have seen concrete blocks that have been added for extra stability as well.
Louis Joyner, the local architect overseeing the project, explained.
“These things give it the structural stability that it has lacked,” said Joyner, who pointed out that the tower experienced such problems within the first three years of its construction in 1942. “We had to support the walls and the roof.”
That explains why, in April, during his Landmark Columbus Foundation Progressive Preservation talk, Joyner referred to the tower as something of a six-month building miracle “just to keep it straight.”
F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co. has done other such brick replacement efforts in Indianapolis and elsewhere.
“All that makes this a lot of work for a reasonable amount of money,” he said.
The most recent brick replacement work has focused mostly on the upper third level known as the clock chamber.
One of the upcoming brick replacement areas will come on the tower’s lower west side “where there is an awful lot of brick deterioration,” according to Joyner. He added that work remains on schedule with completion still targeted for November. The project also includes replacing plastic panels along what is called the “zipper” side of the tower with new limestone panels, which are more durable than the tower’s original concrete ones.
“The workers have built enough (possible delay) time into the schedule,” Joyner said. “And so far, we’ve had pretty favorable weather. It was a fairly dry spring. And that helped a lot.”
The church and the tower were the first Modernist buildings in a city that has earned global acclaim for its tall, architectural legacy. That realm of acclaim included national media coverage in the early 1940s in then-widely-esteemed publications such as Time and Newsweek magazines.
The Columbus Area Visitors Center staff has regularly noted through the years that the church is among the most asked-about architectural structures in the community.
