AMHERST — The Jewish Community of Amherst is nearly finished with the reconstruction of its historic steeple following the reinstallation of the steeple’s wooden acorn last week.
The steeple was restored with Community Preservation Act funds, along with contributions from the JCA itself. After a lightning strike hit the steeple in August 2014, it was discovered that the wood siding and support beams inside the steeple were rotting.
The JCA was awarded a CPA grant for $244,683 from the town for the project and the organization contributed approximately $27,000 toward the project. Thayer Street Associates of South Deerfield was hired to do the work.
Eric Weiss, president of the JCA, said the CPA money played a large part in the decision to restore the steeple rather than take it down.
“We really appreciate the support we have gotten from the town of Amherst,” Weiss said.
Weiss credited Rabbi Benjamin Weiner for gaining much of the community support for the project. Steeples are uncommon for a synagogue and Robert Solosko, chairman of the building and grounds committee for the JCA, said the restoration was done largely for historical purposes.
“It’s not a registered historical building but this is part of the historical nature of east Amherst,” Solosko said.
The JCA is located in the former Second Congregational Church of Amherst. It was built in 1837, and is the work of local architect Warren Howland. The acorn on top of the steeple was considered Howland’s signature, according to JCA.
The steeple had been leaning for many years, and Solosko said the JCA tried to stabilize it in 1989. The organization was not aware of the extent of the wood rot until after the 2014 lightning strike. It was discovered at that time that the siding was rotted all the way to the top and through the acorn.
Solosko said the acorn was, “so rotted out we realized it could’ve fallen down at any time.”
The restored acorn was carved from a piece of 200-year-old reclaimed lumber, Solosko said. It was returned to the JCA last week and reinstalled on the steeple, though its placement was delayed for a day by a snowstorm.
The cost of repairing the acorn was not in the original project estimate and was paid for by the JCA. Prior to the restoration, Solosko said the steeple was hard to maintain and needed to be painted every few years. The restoration included measures to cut down on maintenance costs, such as siding with zinc-coated copper metal sheeting.
“It will probably last 100 years or more,” Solosko said.
The project was supposed to be completed in November 2018, but work was slowed down by the extent of rotting in the support beams and the difficulty of the metalwork. These issues led the project farther into winter, which brought weather delays as well. The scaffolding is scheduled to come down by the end of this week.