SWAMPSCOTT — Andrews Chapel has been honored with a Massachusetts Historical Commission Historic Preservation Award for its $330,000 restoration project, which was completed last year.
Before its renovation, the non-denominational chapel in Swampscott Cemetery had been vacant for 15 years. Today, Andrews Chapel is fully functioning.
The landmark is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1923, in memory of Isaac H. Andrews, a selectman and town assessor during the early 1880s, through donation to the town by his wife, Ellen Andrews. Architect Charles Burgess designed the granite chapel, which was built in the Gothic Revival style.
Andrews Chapel was one of 11 projects to be honored with the awards, which were presented by Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin, chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, in a ceremony last week.
“The Massachusetts Historical Commission is proud to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of this year’s awardees,” Galvin said in a statement. “The projects the commission is recognizing this year are particularly diverse and represent the many creative ways that significant historic resources are being preserved across the Commonwealth. The Andrews Chapel restoration has revitalized a treasured local landmark and allowed it to be actively used by the entire community.”
The Andrews Chapel Restoration Committee was formed in 2009, after the decision was made to restore the building rather than demolish it.
The chapel had fallen into a state of disrepair by 2008, as over time, it had seen neglect and the elements take a toll on the structure. There were holes in the roof, water infiltration, missing windows, and significant sections of the lower walls and baseboards also missing.
Deborah Bogardus, chairwoman of the committee, said in a previous interview that before its restoration, she had been the last person to use the chapel for her sister’s funeral in 2001. Despite her use of the chapel, it was in bad shape and Bogardus knew that she wanted to fix it up, later joining the restoration committee when the town began looking for volunteers.
Town Meeting members approved $180,000 over the years to fix the building and more than $150,000 in donations were received for the restoration project. The largest pledge was an anonymous matching donation of $75,000.
The committee partnered with the Essex County Community Foundation to collect donations online, numerous businesses provided in-kind donations and the naming rights to the pews, presider chairs, lectern and windows were auctioned off.
Town funds went toward exterior work, which included work to repair and replace stones on the walls and tower and repairing holes in the slate roof. The first priority of the committee was to make the structure watertight.
Donations raised by the committee were used for the full interior restoration of the chapel, which included the restoration of the pews, front doors and all 10 of the diamond-paned, stained-glass windows.
Other work included repairs and replacement of the interior walls and flooring damaged by water infiltration and pests, restoration of the distinctive stencil work, heating and electrical upgrades and restoration of the original lighting.
The front entry of the building was rebuilt with new granite steps and handicapped accessible ramps matching the original Rockport quarry stone steps.
“This is really one of the most extraordinary awards,” said Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald. “Swampscott is just among a few communities in the Commonwealth that has been highlighted as the standard bearers for historical preservation.
“Both Gino Cresta (department of public works director and assistant town administrator) and the Andrews Chapel Committee worked to help maintain a level of preservation that will ensure future generations can enjoy the chapel in a way that I think reflects the care and pride Swampscott takes in that cemetery.”
The cemetery was one of the town’s first priorities after its 1852 incorporation and it remains the community’s only burial place.
