Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church
Project Information
- Owner Rayne Methodist Church
- Design Waggonner and Ball
- Size 6,000 Square Feet
- Budget $985,000
- Completion December 2002
Rayne Methodist Church on St. Charles Avenue asked Woodward Design+Build to raise the roof of their 130 year-old church by eight inches. The roof of the church originally sat on a wood member, which in turn sat on the exterior brick walls of the building. Over the years, water intrusion has rotted out the wood member, and the roof’s trusses sat directly on the brick walls. A scaffold “dance floor” was first constructed twenty feet above the floor of the church.
Woodward Millwork Group carefully removed decorative “knee braces” from the existing ceiling trusses. Steel truss plates were installed to connect each truss directly to the brick walls. All of the old wood has been removed and the space is now filled in with new brick. The “knee braces” were then put back with new wood cornice fashioned to match the original. The exterior brick of the building was cleaned and tuckpointed to make the building watertight and alleviate the original cause of the problem. The church also took advantage of the scaffolding in place by having the ceiling and walls painted.
Due the excellent working relatinoship that was developed, Woodward Design+Build was again chosen to assist Rayne through their hurricane restoration. Rayne suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Katrina, and Woodward is in the final stages of a complete restoration of all damaged areas, including rebuilding the steeple.
