A resurrection of Swampscott chapel

SWAMPSCOTT – The shock Deb Bogardus received when she opened Andrews Memorial Chapel?s doors 14 years ago sparked a labor of love by more than a dozen townspeople that endures today.Bogardus planned to use the chapel, located in Swampscott Cemetery, for a memorial service honoring her late sister, Stephanie Mills Barr. Inside the small granite-walled building with its vaulted ceiling, she found leaves, dirt and birds.?We cleaned it up, and it was a beautiful day, but I got right to the (board of) selectmen and said, ?You can?t let this go into disrepair,?” Bogardus said.She ended up on a town committee that had its hands full with finding money to repair the chapel?s crumbling stone exterior and undertake extensive interior cleaning and repair work.Concerns about the chapel tower?s structural soundness worsened to the point where town workers placed safety barriers around the building.?It was a total embarrassment,” said Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta.Built in 1923 by Ellen Andrews in the memory of her husband, Isaac, the chapel cost $32,000.Bogardus and fellow town resident Toni DiLisio quickly discovered they needed a much larger sum to pay for the chapel?s restoration.With $180,000 in town money appropriated by 2007 for the chapel?s exterior repairs, the two women knew they were on their way to restoring the building?s Norman Gothic architectural features. But they realized private donations and elbow grease would be required to return Andrews Memorial to the days when funerals and memorial services were held there.?It?s one of the gems of the town. It is really a beautiful building,” said DiLisio.Town residents and business owners stepped up to help the women. Bogardus credited electrician John Barnes with wiring the chapel?s rotted electrical system. Stephen Hayes undertook construction work, and Robert Dandreo replastered the damaged walls. Bogardus said window restorer Tom Barber volunteered to recreate the chapel?s stained-glass windows.She said furniture maker and restorer Ron Trapasso spent nine months working on the chapel?s dilapidated double doors.?He stripped everything off them and restored them to their original green color,” Bogardus said.Trapasso also guided town resident and Boy Scout Michael Norcott in restoring 16 of the chapel?s 20 pews. Norcott chose the restoration work as a project requirement for earning Eagle Scout honors.Local floorer William Bergeron is involved in interior restorations, along with Howard Vatcher, who Bogardus said restored the chapel?s original light fixtures.?We all feel passionate about this building – it?s our history,” she said.She said local philanthropists William and Jane Mosakowski offered to match private donations raised for the chapel?s restoration with a $75,000 contribution. Bogardus said $50,000 in contributions have been raised to date with residents sending in donations.Interior carpentry and restoration work will be capped off with the recreation of the stenciled Bible passages that originally adorned the chapel?s interior walls. Bogardus and DiLisio said the work could be done by next spring in time for services, as well as weddings and concerts, to fill the chapel.Town Historical Commission member Richard Smith said Andrews Memorial Chapel is included in the National Historic Register status conferred on the town cemetery.?Andrews Chapel is the centerpiece of the cemetery,” Smith said.