SAN ANTONIO — Crews are working to save a piece of history.
Mission Concepcion is closed to the public and preservation projects are underway at the church, one of the four Mission Churches that makeup San Antonio’s UNESCO World Heritage site.
Rebecca Simmons describes the four Missions as the soul of San Antonio.
“San Antonio was founded by the little communities that were created around each of these missions,” said Simmons.
Simmons is the Director of Los Misiones, the preservation organization for the four Mission churches.
She gave KENS5 an inside look at the ongoing preservation efforts now ongoing at Mission Concepcion.
Mission Concepcion is over 250 years old, and Simmons said it is the oldest, unrestored stone church in the United States.
One of the ongoing preservation projects involves making repairs to the dome of the church.
“It’s the gravity that’s pushing it out. If that were to continue over another hundred years or so, it would eventually go flat and fall in,” said Simmons.
She said they are working to strengthen the dome that has stood the test of time.
“This dome has been sitting here really unrestored, except for patches, maybe, for over 256 years,” said Simmons.
Water has seeped in over the years, damaging some of the plaster. The repair work involves creating a waterproof barrier.
“We're going to put a metal girdle around it so that it'll keep the structure secure,” said Simmons.
She said they are also inspecting the material inside of the dome that’s not cut stone, but rubble and stone mixed together with mortar.
“Some of that mortar has disintegrated a bit, so that will need a little bit of strengthening, maybe a net metal net kind of covering. It will then be all covered over with good new plaster and then ultimately a super good waterproofing system that will go over it to protect us from this water infiltration that has created a lot of the plaster kind of falling down,” said Simmons.
While crews are working on restoring the dome, most of the artifacts inside the church also have to be protected.
They’ve taken down most of the artwork along the walls, including the statue of the Virgin Mary that is being stored in a secure place.
However, the large, picture of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady is difficult to move.
“She is original to this mission. She is from the 18th century and that's why she is so precious to us,” said Simmons.
Simmons said after consulting with art experts and curators, they decided it was safer to leave the artwork in place than to move it and risk damaging it.
“What we've done is created a complete barricade and wall so that she will never be injured by anything going on here. So, underneath she's been carefully looked at by some art conservation people and plastic has been put around her, not bound but to keep the dust off of her,” said Simmons. “So, she is sheltering in place.”
Another ongoing project is moving the air conditioning system.
Simmons said the A/C units on the outside of the building have been creating havoc on the walls of the structure.
She said moisture has been seeping into the walls, causing some of the plaster to fall off.
“UTSA did a study, and it took over a year to do a very intense study of what were the temperatures like, the humidity like within the church,” said Simmons. “And, what are the best ways to fix that? It was determined that clearly these two (A/C units) are culprits at really bringing moisture and forcing moisture out against the wall.”
The new A/C units will be placed farther away from the walls, so they are not blowing out against the walls or trapping moisture within the walls.
Simmons said the units will be moved after the dome preservation project is completed.
Mission Concepcion will remain closed to the public until the projects are completed. Simmons said they hope to be finished by April, so they can reopen to the public.
Simmons said it’s an intensive project because of the care that must go into preserving the structure.
“This is a fantastic elderly building,” said Simmons. “It is more fragile than you think it is because it's two hundred and fifty-six years old or more.”
“You have to take great care to use the historic materials you need to use, which is very complicated,” she added.
Simmons said it’s difficult to keep the Missions maintained, and the preservation project has been a community effort, with help of partners like the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the National Park Service, and the San Antonio River Authority.
She also said the public has been a major contributor, and generous with donations.
“This isn't cheap. If you think your home repairs are expensive, it is very, very expensive to keep these churches maintained,” said Simmons.
If you’d like to make a donation to the preservation and support efforts, follow this link to the Los Misiones donation website.