Defacading a heritage church

There's other coverage at URBSite (link at end of post) on the removal of the Metropolitan Bible Church wall, so I thought I'd so something a little different.

I'm restricting the photos in today's post to shots from more or less the same angle, showing progress of work on the façade.

Here's how it looked on November 3, 2009, more or less in its original state:
By November 23, the canopy had been removed.


On November 25, a scaffold was under construction:

The next day, two workers installing a mesh watch me take a photograph. With my new camera, I'm able to fit the whole facade into frame.

By December 8, 2009, the parapet at the top of the wall had been dismatled, for reassembly once the new building was complete. The signage attached to the building was also being removed.

Three days later, we can see the result more clearly now that the scaffolding and mesh have been removed. In addition to the parapet, the second and third storey windows have been removed. The ground floor windows and doors remain intact.

By the 22nd of December, the wooden doors had been removed and the openings boarded up.

Another month later, on January 24, 2010, there was an enclosed plywood work area at the base of the wall.

By February 17th, a steel truss structure had been assembled on the inside and outside of the walls, sandwiching the wall with foam inserts.

Here it is again on Sunday, February 20th, 2010, only something's different...

As you can see from the buildings at the left and right edges, this is the view of the front of the building during the gigantic façade removal procedure. The streets were closed on all four blocks heading away from the intersection of Bank and McLeod, and most of those streets were occupied by flatbed trucks, cranes, police cruisers and other construction-related vehicles.

Looking down McLeod Street, here's the rear view of the front of the building. (How often can you say you saw that?)

And here's the façade again the next day, only it's one and a half storeys underground, stowed away while the new foundation is built in its permanent home.

Here's the front shot of the building once again, literally a cross-section of the building:

Regrettably, I neglected to take any more photos from across the street once the façade came off. But I have plenty more interesting photos from different angles that I will post in the coming days and weeks, and of course I'll be taking more photos as demolition and construction continue, right up through when the façade is returned to its original location.

While you're waiting, don't forget to check out other posts with the Metropolitan Bible Church label.

Edit: See also the URBSite post on the removal of the Bible Church wall