Father Toole and Trustees William H. O'Neil and John S. Maloney_________________________
The school was completely renovated in 1944. This included new rest rooms, showers, wiring, floors, lighting, blackboards, stairways, painting, and at this time a new public address system was installed in the principal’s office and all the school rooms. The hall attached to the school had been condemned so it was demolished and completely rebuilt and made into a gymnasium. This was completed in March of 1945. It had one of the largest basketball courts in the city of Elmira. This hall is in use practically every night for various parish functions. It was opened Sept. 24th 1945 for inspection.
The complete renovation of the Church was begun in the Fall of 1944 when the church was redecorated throughout. New windows were installed in 1945 and the new front entrances were constructed in the same year. At the same time, new lighting fixtures were put in and the gothic sanctuary was built. The three new marble altars were placed in the Church in Feb. of 1947. In the summer of the same year the old pews were removed and the beautiful new pews were put in. The organ was rebuilt and electrified. In the Fall of 1947, the new sacristies were built on and rest rooms added to the Church. In connection with this construction, new side entrances were cut through. The Baldachino was put in place just before Easter, 1948. Still to be completed are a new rose window over the organ and four new confessionals are to be placed in the rear of the church. A new heating system was constructed in the Fall of 1947.
On March 30, 1945 the large lot adjoining the Church fronting on Franklin St. between Fulton and Pleasant St., was purchased for $5,000.00. This extends for 370 feet along Franklin St. and for 261 feet along Pleasant St. and 220 feet along Fulton St. This is the property on which formerly stood the old Southern Tier orphanage.
A description of the remodeled Church follows:
St. Joseph's Altar_____________
The Nave of the Church presents no difficult problem for the decorator. It is simple restrained in its architectural design. The side walls broken by tall slender windows are of pleasing proportions. The ceiling with its Gothic vaulting, though lacking some of the refinements of a more developed style, is well planned. all that was required here, was a decorative treatment which would accentuate the architectural treatment. This was accomplished by alternating the color treatment in each bay. The penetrations of the vaults above the Nave arches have been given a blue ground color, overlaid with a rich scroll pattern in buff and ivory tones with accents of gold leaf. This pattern is a conventionalized rose the familiar emblem of the Blessed Virgin--the mystical rose, the rose of Sharon. The delicate filagree [sic] of this symbolic pattern makes it the chief enrichment of the ceiling. The larger kite shaped areas of the ceiling, the vaulted shapes parallel with the axis of the church have a light soft gold colored ground over-laid with a pattern of fleur-de-lis in blue and gold repeating again a familiar emblem of the Blessed Virgin.
The angles of edges formed where the various shapes of the ceiling meet are emphasized by champfer patterns, narrow geometric designs in blue, red and gold, here substituted for the moulded plaster ribs with which these lines are often accented.
The side aisle ceilings again show the same alternation of blue and buff tones in the vaulting. In these the patterns are small in scale done in ivory and gold tones and suggest conventionalized stars again emblematic of the Virgin. The soffits of the arches of the Nave arcade are decorated in rich color.
The side walls are finished in tones of buff with a strippled texture. Without other decoration they make a suitable setting for the richer colors of the stained windows and for the Stations of the Cross. The Stations are unusually fine paintings in rich colors and add much to the enrichment of the church. These are the old Stations restored and reframed.
The windows are designed primarily to admit light, a soft pleasing light which has been accomplished by the careful selection of light tones of grey greens and ambers which predominate. In their design the windows recall the traditional treatment of English gothic churches. The larger areas are of quarry patterns, diamond shaped pieces in light colors, softened in effect by a delicate matting or shading. Each lancet is outlined with a decorative border in which blue is the dominant color. The quarries back ground is broken by small spots of color, by decorative bosses, by emblems and in the upper part of each opening a medallion in which a Saint is depicted. In all three are figures represented including among them Apostles, doctors, martyrs and virgin martyrs, kings, queen [sic] and fathers of the church. These are all in rich colors, blues, green and reds predominating. The following is a list of the figures each shown with their proper attributes and emblems.
The Epistle Side:
The Apostles Peter and Paul
Two of the Latin Fathers
Saint Ambrose and St. Augustine robed as bishops
Two queens, St. Elizabeth, renowned for her charity and St. Helena, who found the True Cross
The Confessors: St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order
St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor shown with this book, the Sumna
St. Catherine of Alexandis shown with the wheel, the instrument of her martyrdom
St. Theresa, founder of the order of the Carmelites
The Gospel Side:
St. Barbara, the patroness of armorers and soldiers is represented with her tower, she has the palm, the symbol of all martyred saints.
St. Jeanne D'Arc is shown in armour and holding her banner in which the Virgin and child are represented.
Below are burning logs symbolic of her martyrdom.
Two kings are shown in the next pair of windows: St. Louis of France, with a sword, the crusaders cross, and the crown of thorns which he brought to France.
St. Edward, of England, the Confessor, with book and scripts.
St. Agnes is shown with the lamb the emblem of her purity and the palm of her martyrdom.
St. Cecilia is shown with the organ, her emblem as patroness of musicians.
St. Patrick, confessor is shown as a bishop with pastoral staff and the serpent and celtic cross, recall his mission in Ireland.
St. Gregory, the Great one of the doctors of the church is shown with a book and a dove, this symbolizing his inspiration.
St. James Major and St. John the Evangelist are the last of these figures. St. James is shown as the patron of pilgrims and carries a pilgrims staff and wallet.
St. John the Evangelist is shown holding a chalice from which a serpent issues recalling an attempt made to poison him.
A dove perched on his shoulder symbolizes the inspiration he receives from the Holy Ghost.
The important addition to the decoration of the Nave are the rows of wrought iron lanterns with their amber tint of glass cylinders.
In spite of the difficulty of obtaining well seasoned wood, new pews and kneeling benches have been installed. The pews are exceptionally good in design, construction and in their finish. The kneelers covered with sponge rubber cushion add much to the comfort of the worshippers.
The sanctuary, unlike the Nave, presented many awkward problems when the redecoration of the church was undertaken. It lacked an architectural treatment consistent with the more logical, more pleasing design of the Nave. The ceiling in no way conformed with the gothic design of the Nave vaulting. It was broad, flat and crudely planned. Where one would expect added richness in architectural details there was only an attempt at crude vaulting. One which had the effect of lowering the ceiling particularly on the rear wall where greater height was essential. Decorations applied to this ceiling would only have served to emphasize the least desirable features of the whole church.
The problem of reconstruction and replanning this ceiling in a suitable design was not a difficult one. The present ceiling shows a symbol gothic shaped vault from arch to rear wall, adding to the apparent length of the church, the depth of the sanctuary in greatly increasing the ceiling divided by moulded plaster ribs into long panels has added greatly to the beauty of the whole. The ribs are decorated with champer patterns in color and gold leaf. the panels have a blue field enriched with a scroll pattern, conventional in design, the grape vine symbolic of the Eucharist. Supported by this vine pattern are shields with emblems of the Blessed Virgin and of Christ. there is the Palm and Crown, an emblem of the Blessed Virgin as Queen of Martyrs, the Stella Maris, The Pomegranate, a symbol of Divine Grace and given to the Virgin as the Mediatrix. There is the Tower of Ivory, the Gate of Heaven, the Mystical Rose, The Lily, the monogram "M" with the crown of twelve stars from the Apocalypse and the Sealed Book and emblem of the Blessed Virgin recalling the prophecy of Isaiah.
Blessed Virgin's Altar
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Besides these emblems of the Virgin, there is the Chalice and Host, the monogram I.H.S. and the Chi Rho combined with the Alpha and Omega. The Cross with N.I.K.A., the Greek word for Victory. The cross with the letters I.C.X.C. which are abbreviations of the Greek word Jesus and Christ. Another emblem of Our Lord is the crown of thorns and nails.
While the remodelling of the sanctuary ceiling has given opportunity for the elaborate decorative treatment outlined, the greatest gain is in the increased height which made possible the design of the present altar. This, the focal point of the whole plan, would have been impossible without raising the ceiling and clearing the rear wall to its present tall arched shape.
The altar steps, pedalla, the mensa and retable are all of Tennessee marble, Golden veined Tavernelle and Knoxville Rose d'Or. The soft warm coloring of these marbles is relieved by cast bronze ornaments and monograms in gold lacquer and inserts of deeper colored stones. On the retable the inscription "SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS DOMINUS DEUS SABAOTH" is carved. the tabernacle, like the altar itself is rubrically correct in design and richly ornamented. The candlesticks, specially designed, are of brass, gold lacquered and polychromed in red and blue enamel.
The altar, when designed to meet fully the requirement so the rubrics, should be entirely covered by a baldachino of stone or wood or fabric. Frequently, this essential in design has been neglected and only suggested by a small throne or canopy of the tabernacle. Often only the altar table can be covered. Here with the high ceiling, it was possible to carry out fully the requirement of a canopy or baldachino that covers both the altar and the foot-face before the mensa. The baldachino here is approximately 25 feet in height. It is made of oak lightly stained, and richly polychromed. In medieval carvings such as this design recalls, the woodwork was not considered finished until all the details of the ornamentation of carved detail, moulding and inscriptions were emphasized with lines and high lights of gold leaf with details pricked out in color, principally in blues, greens and reds. Here, such a treatment, though a traditional one, is carried out to an extent seldom seen in this country. It is an attempt simply to give to the altar the richness, the beauty its setting fittingly requires.
All of the upper portion of the baldachino has this polychrome decoration. With it, the small buttress, the pinnacles, the elaborately carved crestings, the bands of inscriptions, the carved bosses and mouldings are all emphasized. The ceiling of the canopy is panelled; the panels painted blue are decorated with stars in ivory and gold and the cone shaped frieze around the ceiling is covered with a conventionalized rose motif in ivory tones on a blue ground. Blue is the one color emphasized throughout, the traditional blue associated in symbology with the Queen of Heaven.
One of the rubrical requirements more strictly adhered to in the earlier altars was the use of fabric hangings to enclose and further protect the altar. This consisted, as here, of a dossal hung at the back of the altar and the riddles, the draperies enclosing the sides of the altar.
Another architectural change, obviously a great improvement, was the cutting through of side entrances to the church near the side altars. In the earlier plan, the communion rail and steps extended from wall to wall, shortening the Sanctuary and crowding the side altars. This plan would have complicated the location of the new exits. The best location under the first two aisle windows would have been crowded without eliminating the steps to the railing. By changing the rail to its present location, this difficulty was eliminated. The side altars, now outside the communion rail, are raised on predallas about the Nave level, giving a better setting and admitting of a finer decorative treatment. The repositories, sunk in the walls, have saved considerable floor space making shallow mensa practical. The change has permitted the design of altars that harmonize well with the high altar. The statues with their triptych backgrounds are extremely decorative in effect.
On Holy Thursday when one of these was used for the Repository, another requirement of the rubrics as properly carried out. The regulations specify that the place for the Repository should be outside of the Sanctuary enclosure and merely removing the Blessed Sacrament from one altar to another within the Sanctuary does not carry out the spirit of this ceremonial.
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