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When an old church sells its building | History | newspressnow.com - News-Press Now

Mike Bell used Blender, open-source 3D computer graphics software, to model the collapse of the First Congregational Church in New London. (Courtesy of Mike Bell)

Mike Bell, a retired architect in South Africa, does animations on YouTube that explain building collapses, plane crashes and other topics. (Courtesy of Mike Bell)

News of a building collapse on another continent isnt the kind of thing that normally sends people into a frenzy of activity.

But when Mike Bell, an architect in Cape Town, South Africa, heard about the fall of New Londons First Congregational Church, he knew instantly he had to determine the cause. Its the same reaction hes had to other disasters.

My mind goes into overdrive, he said. When I see the photographs and I hear the witnesses talking and the sequences, my brain just must, must figure it out.

Bell, 61, whose rsum includes the design of a 40,000-seat soccer stadium in South Africa built for the FIFA World Cup, is retired after a 35-year career. He now makes videos for YouTube in which he explains complicated things in a simple manner with 3D animations for your enjoyment, his bio reads.

With 58,000 subscribers, Bell has made videos on everything from a drone strike that killed the leader of al-Qaida to the implosion of a submersible exploring the Titanic. But he has a specialty.

You really do need to have a niche, and building collapses totally are my niche, he said. Theres nobody else who does it and who can do what I do.

Mike Bell, a South African architect, used Blender, open-source 3D computer graphics software, to animate the Jan. 25 collapse of the First Congregational Church.

His recreation shows the towering granite spire falling inward through the roof of the building.

Graphics courtesy Mike Bell

Mike Bell, a South African architect, used Blender, open-source 3D computer graphics software, to animate the Jan. 25 collapse of the First Congregational Church.

His recreation shows the towering granite spire falling inward through the roof of the building.

Graphics courtesy Mike Bell

To figure out and animate collapses, he said, he bounces ideas off structural engineer friends and draws on a wealth of experience from his career.

When youre working for really, really long, you dont even need to think, he said. If somebody asks you a question, it just sort of rolls off because youve done it so many times. Its an amazing place to get to.

Solving New Londons church collapse, which happened Jan. 25, was right up his alley. When he heard about it online, I immediately just went into every nook and cranny I could find, got everything I could, and within a day and a half I published the first video.

Eight minutes long, it includes the widely seen security camera footage that gives a partial view of the collapse. He followed that up with a 16-minute video, released a week ago, that goes into more detail.

Though Bell worked on the second video for weeks, by the time the first one came out, he said, he had already figured out what brought the building down.

* * *

Officials in New London are still investigating the collapse and have not announced the cause. They have the advantage of being here, while Bell is an ocean away.

But in the internet age, distance has almost ceased to matter.

If I could drive there and come and have a look for myself and take footage, that would be better, Bell said, but the distance actually is immaterial to me.

A cutaway view of the front of the church and the center spire. If Bells theory is correct, the seeds of the churchs demise were planted at its birth.

A cutaway view of the front of the church and the center spire. If Bells theory is correct, the seeds of the churchs demise were planted at its birth.

The information he consulted is much of what would be available if he were here: the footage from the ISAAC School, which caught the spires fall; the most recent report on the buildings condition; drone video; photographs; and news stories, including those in The Day, to which he bought a subscription.

Most of what he needed was at his fingertips, and he found more by connecting with people via email and social media.

The internet is absolutely phenomenal, Bell said. There was a plane crash in Nepal a year ago, and within no time at all I had spoken to the guy who happened to be filming the crash from his balcony, which was key to my video. He found the man by messaging him on TikTok.

Getting a video online promptly is important, he said, because YouTubes algorithm sends more viewers his way when a story is fresh. His second video about the church was delayed while he hurried to complete an animation of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.

Still, of over 90,000 people who viewed his quick response church video in January, only about 100 were in the New London area. For some reason, his effort didnt catch on here, even though he explained in detail how and why the building failed.

* * *

So what happened?

It was pretty obvious from the clues, Bell said. There was a bad pocket of masonry, which he called a ticking time bomb.

He said he pinpointed the location to the steeples north wall behind the balcony. There were reports of a serious water leak and buckling door frames at the spot, which is where the pipe organ was.

Thats part of my theory, he said, that the organ might have covered up the damage.

The organ was replaced with a digital one around 2011 because of the leak, said Alan McNeely, whose Waterford company maintained the instrument. But the larger pipes and oak casework were there until the end.

The organ, shown in photo above, is outlined in magenta.

Bell believes a pocket of bad masonry was the cause of the spires tilt and its eventual collapse. He says it was in the steeples north wall, shown in white, and may have been hidden by the churchs pipe organ.

Bell believes a pocket of bad masonry was the cause of the spires tilt and its eventual collapse. He says it was in the steeples north wall, shown in white, and may have been hidden by the churchs pipe organ.

The pipe organ, shown in photo above, is outlined in magenta in Bells graphic.

If true, Bells theory would be part of a remarkable story. Because, he said, the masonrys poor condition wasnt anything recent. It dated all the way back to the churchs construction in 1850-51.

As The Day has reported, Leopold Eidlitz, the churchs architect, wrote a letter of warning to the congregation as soon as the building was occupied. He said the tower walls were parting in consequence of defective masonry and unequal settling.

Eidlitz decided to secure the tower with iron anchors as a temporary solution, and the church arranged for permanent repairs in 1857, though Eidlitz had recommended the tower be demolished and rebuilt.

Steel rods called anchor ties were installed in the spire shortly after the church was completed to hold it together because the walls were already parting.

The churchs architect said the tower walls were unstable because of defective masonry and uneven settling. He wanted the tower demolished and rebuilt.

Steel rods called anchor ties were installed in the spire shortly after the church was completed to hold it together because the walls were already parting.

The churchs architect said the tower walls were unstable because of defective masonry and uneven settling. He wanted the tower demolished and rebuilt.

The unequal settling produced a problem that was hiding in plain sight. The churchs granite spire, 150 feet high, was left with a slight but significant tilt, Bell said. The tilt, which was toward the rest of the building, began around the apex of the roof, below the bell room, and was probably there from the beginning, he said.

Bell noted that the church survived the 1938 hurricane, a Category 3 storm, which suggests the masonry pocket degraded considerably after that. The rest of the building was solidly built, he said.

The spires tilt was stable until around 2019, when photos show it started to worsen. By Jan. 25, it had increased to 2 degrees, shifting the weight of the spire to the damaged north wall. When the walls bearing capacity was exceeded, he said, the whole thing collapsed.

New London Fire Marshal Vernon Skau, who is coordinating the official investigation, declined to provide any details about its focus and did not indicate when it would be finished.

* * *

Bells main evidence was the ISAAC footage: not just the five seconds everyone has seen, but 24 minutes of high-resolution video that allowed him to track the tilt frame-by-frame. The school, which supplied the video, also gave him still images for the prior 10 days.

Video is super, super valuable to me, or photographs as well, but video is the best, he said.

In the ISAAC footage, only the spire is visible over the parking garage on Governor Winthrop Boulevard. But Bell used Blender, open-source 3D computer graphics software, to model the entire event. Blender helped Bell document the tilt, as did a 2014 photo and 3D views of downtown New London from 2019 on Google Maps.

As the tilt worsens in the footage, the spire pivots on a point near the roof line, suggesting that the damage is just below that, around the balcony.

In his second video, Bell tracked the gilded ball atop the spire, where the tilts increase was most evident. The balls movement grew exponentially: 15 inches in the last four years, another 17 inches in the 10 days before the collapse, 7 more inches in the final 24 minutes, and 19 inches in the 1.7 seconds before the spire reached its tipping point.

Using video and photo evidence, Bell tracked the movement of the gilded ball atop the spire. The tilt worsened dramatically in the days before the collapse.

Using video and photo evidence, Bell tracked the movement of the gilded ball atop the spire. The tilt worsened dramatically in the days before the collapse.

As the spire began to fall, it built up momentum that increased its weight, creating a hammer blow effect that overwhelmed solid stonework at the steeples base, he said. Then, the rest landed on the rubble, slowing the fall and causing the top of the spire to break off, a key moment in the ISAAC footage.

The spire fell through the roof while the lower steeple spilled onto the churchs lawn.

Photos of the church at different periods were also available, some of them supplied by The Day. They showed a sag in the roof where it met the steeple on the east side, but the steeple fell asymmetrically on the west side, he said.

A photo from the 1860s shows the buildings facade studded with anchor plates, where steel rods, or ties," stabilizing the tower from within are bolted to the outer walls. This was a common corrective measure in older buildings, Bell said, and its possible one rusted through, contributing to the collapse.

The anchor plates, apparently from Eidlitzs repairs and the churchs slightly later ones, look the same in recent photos.

Nobodys added any more, he said, which means if they added those anchor ties as the building was being completed, that masonry was indeed trouble.

The steel tie rods were bolted to the outer walls with anchor plates, which were visible on the facade of the building.

The steel tie rods were bolted to the outer walls with anchor plates, which were visible on the facade of the building.

* * *

If Bells theory is correct, the seeds of the churchs demise were planted at its birth. Then it somehow survived until a random January day more than a century and a half later. He said for a flawed structure to last that long is rare.

The architect would have been incredibly surprised that it took 175 years for it to fall down, he said.

In his letter to the church, Eidlitz said the steeple had been built in a hurry by a contractor of questionable competence.

To write a strong letter like that is professionally very brave, Bell said, noting that Eidlitz was young at the time. You can potentially lose future work if you get a name for being an alarmist. But at the same time, youve got to be professionally responsible and call out stuff that should be called out.

Bell criticized what he said was a failure to call something out more recently. In 2011 the buildings condition was analyzed by Silver/Petrucelli + Associates, an architectural and engineering firm in Hamden. The firms report said that by all visible accounts, the tower is structurally sound.

The report included a photo of granite steps from the balcony to the tower that had fractured down the center. There was no recommendation that the fracture be examined more closely. But Bell believes it was significant and said it suggested some quite severe movement on the masonry."

Having this photograph and then calling this tower structurally sound is just, beats me, he said. I wouldnt have done it, but you know were all clever in hindsight. But this really worries me. I think this was irresponsible.

Silver/Petrucelli did not return messages seeking comment.

A photo included in a 2011 report by a Hamden architectural and engineering firm shows fractured granite steps between the balcony and the tower.

The firm concluded that the tower was structurally sound.

A photo included in a 2011 report by a Hamden architectural and engineering firm shows fractured granite steps between the balcony and the tower.

The firm concluded that the tower was structurally sound.

Bell noted that the report also mentioned damage in the area where he believes the crumbling masonry was but did not include a photo, which suggests there were no visible signs of structural cracks.

The absence of those photographs probably means there was nothing glaring, he said.

Except for the fractured steps, Bell said, he doesnt know of much visible damage in the days before the collapse, making it hard to say whether there was any sign of imminent catastrophe.

Thats whats so terrifying about this, he said. You would like to know that the building was really shouting and screaming, giving everybody a warning, and they were ignoring it or whatever.

I think the lesson is that the warning signs are minimal. So the responsibility is to actually monitor buildings in different ways, pick up minor movements, and thats the alarm bell to come and check it out and keep the building safe.

j.ruddy@theday.com

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Why did the church collapse? South African architect says he knows - theday.com

ROCKFORD, Ill (RNS) In early April, just a few days after Easter, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church was filled with sounds of new life.

And hammers.

Two years ago, the church, which has shrunk from a congregation of 400 to a few dozen worshippers, decided to donate its building to the YMCA of the Rock River Valley in hopes the building could be reborn as a local Y. After months of planning and fundraising the project will cost about $3 million the rebirth of Good Shepherd finally got underway in late March 2024.

On Tuesday, April 2, the Rev. Eric Lemonholm, pastor of Good Shepherd, and Brent Pentenburg, CEO of the YMCA of the Rock River Valley, took a tour of the 1950s-era church, which is being transformed into Good Shepherd YMCA.

There were smiles all around as a long-anticipated dream was becoming a reality.

We were once a big congregation in a big building, said Lemonholm. Then we became a small congregation in a big building for decades. The congregation knew something had to change.

In recent years, the people of Good Shepherd, like thousands of congregations nationwide, found themselves dealing with the new math of American religion. In 2000, the median-sized congregation in the United States had 137 people, while today that number stands at about 60, according to data from the Faith Communities Today study. That has left congregations like Good Shepherd with buildings they cant fill or afford to keep up.

Rather than closing its doors, the congregation at Good Shepherd decided to find a partner to share their space and continue the congregations work in the community. When the renovations are complete, the churchs former classrooms will house a fitness center and changing rooms, and the boxy sanctuary will be a brand-new gym.

The congregation will continue to hold services in a small chapel at the new YMCA facility when it opens. In doing so, theyll become part of a small but growing group of churches who decided to make the Y their permanent home.

Well be the church in the Y, said Lemonholm, who splits his time between Good Shepherd and another small Lutheran church.

Founded in 1844 as the Young Mens Christian Association, the YMCAsofficial mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all, but the group has no official ties to any church or denomination, instead partnering with people from all backgrounds. In some communities, the Christian part of the mission is stressed more than in other communities.

The YMCAs history and mission often make it a popular spot for startup congregations to meet before they can afford a building of their own. According to Tim Hallman, a former pastor and director of Christian emphasis for the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne, Indiana, several churches like that rent space from the Y in their community.

Continued here:
Near Chicago, a Lutheran Church Finds New Life at the YMCA - Church Leaders

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Church rebuilds a year after highway demolition | News | thefacts.com - Brazosport Facts

Attorney General, State of Delaware

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings has obtained a preliminary victory for residents of the Pine Haven manufactured home community after the community owner, Blue Beach Bungalows DE LLC, was found to have violated statutory protections afforded to the residents.

An administrative hearing officer issued an opinion Thursday, April 4, finding that Blue Beach has willfully violated Delawares Consumer Fraud Act, among other laws, and ordered the company to pay more than $800,000 in penalties, along with rebates of excess rent paid by residents. Blue Beach has 30 days to appeal the order.

Owners of manufactured home communities should consider themselves on notice, said Jennings. Exploiting vulnerable Delawareans with threats and lies is not something manufactured home community owners can expect to get away with.

In April 2023, after receiving numerous complaints from residents, the AGs Consumer Protection Unit (CPU) issued a summary cease-and-desist order requiring Blue Beach to refrain from making false statements to residents and evicting residents in violation of the law, among other things. The cease-and-desist order was accompanied by a complaint detailing how residents were subjected to illegal rent increases, illegally threatened with eviction and arrest, and, in some cases, forced out of their homes prematurely. An administrative proceeding followed, culminating in an administrative hearing in September 2023.

The harm caused by [Blue Beach]s actions cannot be undone, the hearing officer wrote in a 90-page opinion issued on April 4. Despite being operated as a manufactured home community with numerous year-round residents, the park owner was found to have repeatedly made false and misleading claims as to the nature of the park as justification for taking action against residents.

The hearing officer ordered the park owner to rebate all tenants and former tenants any excess rental payments, and awarded an administrative penalty of $737,000 for willful violations of the Consumer Fraud Act, as well as a penalty of $94,000 for violations of the cease-and-desist order. The park owner has the option to appeal, and the order is not final until the window for appeal is closed.

A number of Pine Haven residents targeted for eviction by the park owner were protected due to a recent amendment to Delawares Manufactured Housing Code. 2022s House Bill 374, proposed by Jennings and sponsored by state Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, that expanded the definition of a manufactured home to include certain camper trailers, recreational vehicles, and motor homes.

Manufactured housing complaints can be made to the Office of the Manufactured Housing Ombudsperson on the Delaware Department of Justices website or by calling the hotline at 1-800-220-5424.

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AG obtains victory for manufactured housing residents | State | coastalpoint.com - Coastal Point

83 ANNA ROBERT CIRCLE, Wells $336,900 2 beds, 2 baths, 1,244 SF

Built in 2017 and situated in the Sun-N-Sea Village, this year-round home comes with a generator, shed, a deck and a little patio space. The listing says many upgrades have been made since 2022, including new lighting, plumbing fixtures and carpets. In the kitchen, you can see the new tile backsplash alongside white cabinets and a stainless-steel refrigerator. The water heater was added this year. Monthly association fees are $425. Represented by Patricia Berry, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate The Masiello Group. See the full listing.

9 COLONY WAY, Kittery $389,900 3 beds, 2 baths, 1,387 SF

This home with a two-car garage was erected last year as part of the most recent expansion of the Yankee Mobile Home Community, with nearly 200 residences in mixed and 55+ neighborhoods. No interior photos have been shared, but the listing claims stainless steel kitchen appliances and blueprints show a mudroom, kitchen with breakfast nook, open concept living space, and a primary bed and bath placed is on the opposite end of the other two bedrooms and bath. Monthly association fees are $650. Represented by Carrie Alex, Keller Williams Coastal Realty. Off market.

69 COUNTRY WAY, North Berwick $495,000 3 beds, 2 baths, 1,746 SF

In addition to a whole house generator, two-car garage and landscaped yard, this circa 2020 house shows attention to detail in its design: recessed lighting, French and sliding barn doors, maximized closet space and a tiled shower. In the kitchen, find stainless steel appliances, a farmhouse sink and granite island, which the chef can look over to an open dining and living area. Located in the 39-lot development of Country Estates. Pets are welcome. Represented by Marie Burbank, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, The Masiello Group. See the full listing.

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Manufactured homes for 55+ buyers in York County - Press Herald

LINCOLN, DE - Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings has announced hefty penalties for the owner of the Pine Haven manufactured home community near Lincoln for alleged violations of Delawares Consumer Fraud Act and other state laws.

According to the Attorney Generals office, Blue Beach Bungalows DE, LLC, violated Pine Haven residents statutory protections through illegal rent increases, eviction and arrest threats, and forcing some residents from their homes.

An administrative hearing officer issued an opinion on April 4th, Jennings office says, that found Blue Beach willfully conducted these violations and ordered the company to pay over $800,000 in penalties as well as rebates of excess rent paid by Pine Hill residents.

The Delaware Department of Justice says Blue Beach has 30 days to appeal and the order is not final until the window for an appeal has closed.

Owners of manufactured home communities should consider themselves on notice, said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. Exploiting vulnerable Delawareans with threats and lies is not something manufactured home community owners can expect to get away with.

Jennings Consumer Protection Unit issued a cease and desist order against Blue Beach in April of 2023 after receiving numerous complaints from residents.

A recent amendment to Delawares Manufactured Housing Code which expanded the definition of a manufactured home to include certain camper trailers, recreational vehicles, and motor homes protected some Pine Haven residents targeted for eviction according to the DOJ.

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Over $800k in Penalties for Lincoln Manufactured Home Community Owner - WBOC TV 16

In a three-word social media post, the company shared an updated rendering of the future restaurant located in Barrio Logan that has sat vacant and abandoned.

SAN DIEGO The long-rumored Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles in San Diego County is back on, the company announced on Thursday.

In a three-word social media post, the company shared an updated rendering of the future restaurant located at 1678 National Avenue in Barrio Logan that has sat vacant and abandoned.

Fans of the legendary chicken and waffle destination began asking the question San Diego has asked for years: when?

Roscoes didnt announce an official opening date or an update on the construction that has remained idle for months.

"For real this time?? you keep playing with my emotions," one comment reads.

CBS 8 has been Working for You to find out what's going on with the long-rumored restaurant.

In December 2023, CBS 8 learned that the Roscoes Chicken and Waffles site in Barrio Logan was under investigation after the city received complaints that the construction site had been abandoned and had regular squatters with drug use occurring on the property.

"No security fencing around the job site," the complaint reads. "No daily workers to prevent squatters."

Its grand opening has been pushed back multiple times since 2016, much to the dismay of San Diego County residents who have been waiting for the California-based soul food restaurant chain's arrival.

In December 2023, a spokesperson with the franchise told CBS 8 that the Barrio Logan location is still slated to open but didnt specify when.

"Our team is diligently working to pass next inspections and get the green light from the city," the restaurant's spokesperson said.

CBS 8 reached spoke to San Diego's Development Services Department who said the project is still in the works.

Work at 1678 National Ave. is ongoing, with the most recent inspection having occurred earlier in 2023. Were here to work with them to continue progress on this anticipated addition to Barrio Logan.

Roscoes Barrio Logan location would have added to the seven Southern California franchises with restaurants in Long Beach, Pasadena, West Los Angeles, Inglewood, La Brea, Anaheim and Hollywood.

The soul food restaurant chain is known for its chicken and waffles dish, but also serves other soul food staples such as giblets, candied yams and grits.

WATCH RELATED: What's going on with the San Diego Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles?

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Roscoes Chicken and Waffles in San Diego could be opening soon - CBS News 8

The owners of two southern Maine mobile home parks have rejected an offer by residents who made a last-ditch effort to form a cooperative to buy the properties.

Instead, Seagate Limited Partnership has told the residents that it plans to move ahead with selling Atlantic Village and Old Orchard Village to an out-of-state buyer a decision that Old Orchard Beach residents feared would result in steep rent hikes or in the properties being repurposed into short-term vacation rentals.

After considering our options over the last few days, we have decided to pursue a private sale with the other buyer, Peter Pope and Sheldon Pope, two officials with the partnership, wrote Thursday in a letter to residents. This was a difficult decision for us.

Sandy Ossolinksi, a resident of Old Orchard Village who helped lead the residents cooperative bid, said she was not happy with the Popes decision but that she understood it. She said the 360 or so residents who live in the two parks found out about the sale after it essentially already had been arranged with the unidentified buyer.

I wish we had more recourse, Ossolinksi said. We could have jumped on the bandwagon a lot sooner had we known earlier the mobile home parks were for sale.

She and other residents of the mobile home parks held a Zoom meeting late Friday afternoon to discuss the situation. They expect to exchange more information with the Popes, she said, but dont have other options to pursue.

The Popes said in their letter that they had three main concerns about the residents proposal.

The first was that only roughly 50 percent of the parks residents signed a petition in favor of pursuing the cooperative plan, well below the 70 percent needed for the residents bid to get financing.

Second, the Popes said they are skeptical the residents could raise the $41 million needed to buy the properties.

Lastly, the Popes said they were not confident that they would be able to close on the sale if the residents wanted a 80-day period in which the residents could get their earnest money deposits back if they couldnt line up the financing.

Given these uncertainties, we feel as if accepting these terms presents too big a risk that we would be back at square one if the cooperative is not able to obtain the required financing, the Popes wrote in the letter.

The Popes said that the buyer they intend to sell to is a family business with 30+ years of experience operating communities just like ours. The buyer told the Popes that it would not redevelop the properties and that a planned rent increase on June 1, 2024, would be the only rent increase for the next 12 months, the Popes wrote in the letter.

Ossolinki said residents have been told their rents will increase by $75 a month after May. She said she is not sure when the sale will become final.

Ossolinski added that she feels the Popes have been good owners over the years, though maybe not all the residents would agree. She said she and other residents had been concerned that a big corporation would buy the parks.

I am relieved that its a family business, she said of the buyer.

If nothing else, the residents experience at the mobile home parks in Old Orchard Beach might be useful to residents of another other mobile home park in Maine that might be put up for sale, she said.

Im hopeful we can help the next group, Ossolinksi said.

See original here:
Owners of 2 Maine mobile home parks reject residents' bid to buy properties - Bangor Daily News

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