For over 100 years,
Friedens Evangelical Church has been a part of Port Washington,
Wisconsin. When it was struck by lightning it suffered substantial fire
damage and subsequent water damage as the fire was extinguished. The
Pastor and congregation knew that they wanted to restore as much of this
historic church as possible. They also wanted to continue worship
services during the reconstruction. To do this, the sanctuary (which had
the most damage) was put under negative pressure and the adjoining
memorial hall placed under positive pressure so that services could be
held there without the smell of smoke. Saving the old stained glass
windows was not only a historical priority, but a financial one as well.
By saving the windows instead of replacing them, the church saved
$45,000. Time spent by church members on the cleanup was credited back
to the church because of the savings on the project, and unemployed
church members were hired to help with a portion of the repair.
Insurance restoration always requires top notch communication and the
patience of a saint, but imagine what it was like to work with an
insurance company, 200 clients and five committees…all of whom had
different ideas about how to rebuild the church. That’s why this is such
a challenging discipline.
National Award
