First Congregational Church of Long Beach

First Congregational Church of Long Beach is a winner for the 2021 Preservation Design Award for Craftsmanship/Preservation Technology. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/awards.

About the First Congregational Church of Long Beach

This multi-year, multi-disciplinary, $2.4 million project sought to preserve, repair, and restore damaged areas of the terra cotta Rose Window as well as other character-defining features of the First Congregational Church of Long Beach. The project involved the removal of the stained-glass for studio conservation and dismantling of the East Rose Window’s embrittled tracery. This revealed a simple but undersized and heavily-corroded mild-steel armature with few physical connections to mortar-filled terra cotta blocks. A more seismically-robust but compact, corrosion-resistant, stainless-steel armature replacement was designed without the need and expense to disturb the Window’s original inboard Mahogany tracery lining and decorative plaster rim. New hollow terra cotta blocks matched the original on their faces, but with amended backs to accommodate the armature and attachment via small anchor clips. The outboard face of the extent interior wooden tracery was waterproofed before terra cotta installation. Neoprene shims and structural elastomeric sealant respectively cushioned meeting joints, anchor clips and dowels. Face joints were then waterproofed with sealant. Damaged bricks were replaced to match. Intact but rotating, unbonded bricks were “pinned” to the substrate with helical friction anchors and their holes filled with color-matched mortar.