February. 1977 - CROSSROADS - Page Seven
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II monastery
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heated in the brisk Piedmont winter, to be properly air
led in the brutal, humid summers of North Carolina, suf-
»m lack of bathroom facilities, old plumbing and unsafe by
and health regulations ,^,ere the combined factors which led
vation of the monastery at Belmont Abbey,
I year old structure was in bad physical condition so the
: common'ty’s Building Committee, led by Fr. Bertrand
, Obi,, S-B,, looked into the possibilities of what could be
rray Architects and Planners of Charlotte were called in and
;d their r^ommendations last spring. The Dan Turner
;tion Co., >*so a Charlotte-based firm, began the renovation
26, 1976.
iterior walls were torn out,” explained Fr. Peter Stragand,
>rior, “e*«Pt the brick walls that were weight-bearing. The
except foffhe beams, were also removed. The building was
down as far as you could go.
loor pla» *as redesigned and the room sizes were changed
now is a gt^ter capacity for occupation.” He estimated the
used toh«jd2o men plus an infirmary, but now could hold as
> 30, pltt* ^ternary.
changesf'lude the size of the chapel, which was cut almost
ecause n«'''only Mass is celebrated there with the sick. All
votions af* in the Abbey church. The infirmary area was
1; concr«f*and metal stairs were installed at both ends of
lastery f'^'* the third floor down to the basement for fire
regulatis**' a library was built on the second floor
isly, thet* Was no library in the monastery); television
nd readia^hioms were separated; work rooms and a storage
1 the tbit*-floor have been converted into bathrooms;
ms haveb**n added on the first two floors; a new ceiling and
; floor wst* added to the basement.
lonks, wb*i**gan moving into the monastery in mid-January,
e new thctbial polarized windows, a new heating system and
litioning-
illy, Febd‘*«'y 2 was the completion date of the big work. All
nains is ^*hing some hardware items,
the ren*t®lions were taking place, many of the priests and
i lived Ob"'* third floor of the administration building while
ived in If®*! Hall at Sacred Heart College, about ' 1 mile
Vithin th«®ext week all monks who have taken solemn vows
i^e into tf** ffnished building. About a dozen who are in the
on prog|^^ will remain on the third floor of the Ad-
ition Bui^jbg.
ictures ^ ^™ese pages were taken by McMurray Architects,
lert Hag»*‘ O.S.B., and Anthony DeCristofaro.
vl
m
iyf
WHILE WORK WAS in progress, all ceilings and
the entire interior was torn out except for weight
supporting walls.
TWO DIFFERENT WINDOWS - At left is the
new pane and the right is one of the older windows
that was later removed.
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AFTt^*^N0VATI0N. here is the entrance at the front of the building.
ALL THE HAZARDOUS wooden stairs were replaced by
concrete and metal, fire-proof stairs like these.