When Rugo Stone was consulted for the renovation of this church project, our President Brett Rugo had heard about a renovation at another church in Maryland and proposed the idea of salvaging and repurposing a marble altar rail, estimated to be over 100 years old. The church was very interested in this idea, so the Rugo team then took field measurements of the existing altar to ensure it could work for this project. They studied all the steps involved in salvaging, restoring, modifying, and installing the new space. The old altar rail was Bianco Carrara, which matched the existing stone in this project and was approved by the design team. Each piece of the old altar rail was numbered and photographed before removal, then cataloged, crated, and transported to Rugo Stone’s shop. The team cleaned the marble at the shop, and restoration treatments were performed for patching, refinishing, and stain removal. The Rugo team produced and installed two 10″x10″x24″ marble posts with ornamental carvings on either side of a highly ornate, decorative metal gate in the middle of the sanctuary. Our team also built a structural wooden platform for the marble altar rail assembly and installation. The design was approved and certified by a structural engineer for installation.
Location: Alexandria, VA
Completion Date: 2018
Owner: Catholic Diocese of Arlington
Architect: Barnes Vanze Architects & St. Jude Liturgical Arts Studio, Mr. Louis R. DiCocco, III
General Contractor: Rugo Stone, LLC
Services Performed: CNC Stone Fabrication, consultation, dismantling, restoration, conservation & installation
