Historic church damaged by MBTA project

Crack opens in wall of Boston's Old South

Above, the exterior of Old South Church sustained cracks (at left), apparently caused by construction of an elevator. Below, the sanctuary also suffered structural fractures. (PHOTOS BY GEORGE RIZER/GLOBE STAFF)

A controversial MBTA construction project in Copley Square has caused significant damage to Old South Church, a national historic landmark with a distinctive Roxbury puddingstone façade and a richly ornate interior.

The 135-year-old church suffered a large crack stretching from its foundation to its roof line sometime Tuesday night, apparently from excavation work by an MBTA contractor preparing to install an elevator shaft to make the Copley Square subway station accessible to the handicapped. The crack is visible on both the interior and the exterior of the church's Dartmouth Street wall, splitting the stonework outside and causing debris to fall from the church's "fine arts wall" inside.

The church's senior minister and chief executive, the Rev. Nancy S. Taylor, called the damage "discouraging and disturbing," pointing out that it took place during work intended to protect the church and before the serious excavation for the elevator shaft had begun. Taylor said the church appears to be structurally sound and will remain open.

At a joint press briefing with Charles L. O'Reilly, the MBTA's assistant general manager for design and construction, Taylor said that the MBTA "has agreed to make Old South Church whole" and in a later interview said the MBTA is "fully responsible" for the damage and the cost of all repair work."

O'Reilly said the damage would be the responsibility of the agency's contractor, the J.F. White Contracting Co. The contractor referred a request for comment to the MBTA.

"The MBTA is deeply committed, as the reverend said, to deal with this issue in a forthright fashion," O'Reilly said.

He said teams of engineers representing the church, the MBTA, and the contractor "will work together to get to the bottom of the issue and then deal with the damage that's been caused to the church."

Construction activity, which was supposed to be completed by 2010 and has a price tag of $45 million, has been suspended "while engineers determine the best course of action moving forward," said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

The engineers are planning to immediately install more sophisticated equipment to monitor any movement of the church's walls, but it is unclear whether the MBTA will be able to continue installing the elevator. That elevator will be located at the northwest corner of Dartmouth and Boylston streets, where the church is located.

"I don't know if we're going to continue," O'Reilly said. "We're committed to accessibility at the station, but we don't know how we're going to go forward."

Tia N. Swain, a spokeswoman for the Federal Transit Authority, said, "Construction at that location will cease until the MBTA conducts a thorough investigation, assesses the extent of the damage, and determines how to fix the damage."

The church is safe to use, according to engineers, and worship services, a wedding, and a concert by the Boston Choral Ensemble will take place this weekend as scheduled.

The organ is not usable because of concerns that vibrations could dislodge plaster from the wall. A concert scheduled to be held in the church last night was moved. The church will use its Steinway piano for music while the wall is temporarily patched and then permanently repaired.

The crack in the historic church is the second instance of damage to a national historic landmark caused by the project. Last year, a bench attached to the McKim Building of the Boston Public Library was cracked when it was moved by workers.

"We had thought that the MBTA had implemented measures to ensure that this would not happen, so we're very, very concerned and disappointed that whatever measures they were using apparently didn't work to prevent this crack from happening," said Brona Simon, the state historic preservation officer. "This same project had impacted the library across the street, so it's doubly of concern that damage has occurred yet again to another historic landmark."

The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, citing aesthetic concerns, had sued to persuade the MBTA to move the elevator construction across Dartmouth Street, away from the landmark buildings. The litigation was dismissed by a judge who said the T and the Federal Transit Authority had properly considered available options.

"This is the problem that the neighborhood association and others worried about years ago," said Representative Martha M. Walz, a former president of the neighborhood association who represents the Back Bay in the Legislature.

"I'm incredibly frustrated with the T, because there was a good alternative and they just dug in their heels and wouldn't change anything," she said.

Taylor said Old South Church is fully supportive of making Copley Square more accessible to people in wheelchairs and with other mobility limitations, but that the church had initially asked the T to move the elevator project across Dartmouth Street.

A library spokeswoman, Mary Ann Bender, said yesterday that the library has not suffered any further damage from the excavation work.

Jeffrey Bouchard, the facilities manager of Arlington Street Church, said that church has not been harmed by a similar project underway at the Arlington Street subway station.

The Copley Square construction project is complicated not only by the presence of the two historic landmarks atop the subway station, but also by the fact that the entire area is built on fill, meaning that the buildings are supported by wooden pilings and are particularly vulnerable to damage from excavation and drilling.

In 1975, Trinity Church, an Episcopal parish that is the third National Historic Landmark in Copley Square, was damaged by the construction of the John Hancock Tower.

The T said that for the current project it had demanded that its contractors take extra precautions to protect the church, installing monitors on the church walls and hiring specialists in an unsuccessful effort to prevent the damage.

Taylor said the crack at Old South was spotted Wednesday morning by a conservator working for the church. She said there is no estimate of the cost of the repairs.

Old South is a congregation of the United Church of Christ, which is the largest Protestant denomination in Massachusetts. The congregation traces its history back more than three centuries, to 1669, when it was established as Third Church in Boston.

It was later renamed Old South Church and moved from downtown to its current location in the Back Bay in 1875.

The building is considered a fine example of Ruskinian Gothic architecture. It was designed by Charles Amos Cummings in the 1870s, was updated by the Tiffany firm in 1905, and was completely renovated in the mid-1980s by Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott.

"We love the building," said Lois Harvey, who has worshiped at Old South for nearly two decades. "We consider ourselves so lucky to be there. It's just a glorious church, in the Italianate tradition, and we're very proud when visitors come and gasp at the detail."

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.