St Thomas Episcopal Church

Nature of Work: Redesign of the chancel. Renovation of the “undercroft” or basement for choir and educational spaces. Addition of a large gathering room with adjacent kitchen. Enlargement of the administrative and clergy offices.

Location: Hanover, New Hampshire

The logistics of this project presented a number of challenges for Trumbull-Nelson to creatively overcome. 

Consider the new footprint of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, a landmark on West Wheelock Street in Hanover since 1852. Only an aerial view can easily reveal the addition, tucked neatly between the church and neighboring buildings. What’s within, however, gives St. Thomas an investment that will serve the congregation for many years.

One challenge was to provide construction services for an expansion and renovation project that used every inch of available property, without impeding the normal activity of neighbors, pedestrians and vehicular traffic. In order to create that bit of space needed by the congregation, Milham House, a small, attached frame structure that housed church offices for about 50 years was demolished and replaced with an addition that runs the length of the church adjacent to Thayer Hall, providing about 8,000 square feet of new space distributed over two-plus floors.

Pouring the concrete for the foundation was an arduous process, begun in winter’s bitter cold that included extending the long arms of concrete pumps and a special crane over the ridge of the church roof to reach the work area.

Another major challenge was the removal of sections of the 150-year-old granite foundation and exterior walls in order to provide access to the addition on both the main and lower levels. One of the old church’s features uncovered in the process: a small chamber outside the foundation, believed to be an air source for the bellows of an early church organ.

One of the Town of Hanover’s requirements: no excessive dirt from truck wheels on West Wheelock Street, one of the town’s busiest roads. The solution: a temporary gravel driveway, now replaced with lawn, shrubs and a curving walkway that reaches the entrance to St. Thomas Hall, a spacious new gathering room that is a feature of the expansion area.

The project also encompassed the renovation of about 5,000 square feet of existing space including the chancel (the altar and choir area) and the entire lower level. Another requirement: bring the original building into code compliance with a full sprinkler system made virtually invisible among the stained beams of the sanctuary roof.
The lower level of the addition includes five brightly colored rooms (one is a nursery), new areas for youth and adult education programs and meetings. The lower level of the original church has been completely renovated to create a small chapel, offices for the music and education directors, and rehearsal areas for the church choir.

On the main level, St. Thomas Hall (with its cathedral ceiling and timber framework) has an adjacent full kitchen and can serve over 100 people. One side of the hall is the church’s original granite exterior that has been cut to provide wide, direct access to the sanctuary.

Church offices are on the main level and a partial second floor of the addition.

An elevator serving all floors provides, for the first time, full handicapped accessibility.

The chancel floor has been rebuilt to a single, elevated level, improving access for the celebrants and choir, and the original granite altar will provide an historic backdrop. A new Rodgers digital pipe organ, now located in the chancel, has replaced the Wolff organ that was at the opposite end of the sanctuary. This reveals the historic stain glass window on the west wall.

The sanctuary has been completely repainted and all pews restored. And the entire facility is air conditioned.