A STRIKING SPACE!

It’s hard not to look up and stare.

The ceiling inside of St. Mary’s Church in Ballston Spa is unlike many other parishes. Painted a rich, navy blue, the dark color contrasts the surrounding, bright white support beams. At the intersection, a flower-like molding, painted a striking gold, holds the beams together. It gives an illusion of stars dotted across a dark sky, as if the beauty of the heavens were mere feet away.

St. Mary’s, founded in 1896, closed its doors in January for an eight-month restoration project. Now finished, the result is a striking worship space with updates that highlight — not replace — the original aspects of the parish. 

“This was a restoration, not a renovation,” said Father Francis R. Vivacqua, pastor. “It hasn’t been updated since the 1990s. It needed a new facelift.”
The parish was restored with funds from the Re-Igniting Our Faith campaign. Father Vivacqua said it was the parishioners’ “financial and spiritual support” that made the project “come to fruition.”

The restoration was done by Daprato Rigali Studios, a Chicago-based company that has specialized in the restoration and renovation of churches since 1860. Over the years, Father Vivacqua had seen churches that were updated by the company. So impressed by the company’s work, he hired them to work on St. Mary’s.

“We’re just trying to highlight what you want,” said Elizabeth Rigali, art director for Daprato Rigali Studios. “It’s beautiful, this gothic church.”
While minor updates had been done to St. Mary’s over the years, this was the first time since 1921 that the parish closed its doors to the public for restoration. While the church was being restored, parishioners celebrated Mass in the St. Mary’s School gym until March when COVID-19 paused all Mass celebrations.

The worship space walls were reinforced and repainted, and support beams were marbleized to look like stone. Local Saratoga-based artist, Cynthia Fiorini, heard about the restoration and volunteered her talents to paint the statues of Holy Mary and St. Joseph around the altar. Fiorini also hand-painted the Stations of the Cross, all of which were white and colorless before her work.

Father Vivacqua said he was most excited about the repainting of the stations: “They’re so vibrant and come to life.”

Rigali added that the parish was very dark inside due to poor lighting. To help counter this, all the stained-glass windows were repaired, and a plastic covering that was placed on the outside of the windows was removed, helping immensely with the lighting of the church.

The carpet and wooden floorboards — which were original from the late 1800s — were removed and replaced with tile. Ann E. McCauley, pastoral associate for parish life, said the parish had hoped the original flooring could have been kept, but the wood was so warped it was unsalvageable — though a few of the original boards were held onto for historic keeping. The parish pews were also taken out and restored by a Wisconsin-based company.

Leo Gaona, project manager, stenciled and painted new angels onto the sides of the parish walls. Gaona, who lived in a rented townhouse with the other contractors for the duration of the restoration, said it was an “awesome” experience living in the Saratoga area. “We’ve had a few cookouts with our neighbors and bought our own little grill,” he said. “It’s been good up here, we’re really fortunate.”

On Aug. 9, St. Mary’s held an open house welcoming parishioners back to the parish. Masses started again on Aug. 15 at limited capacity.
“People had a lot of tears in their eyes,” said Father Vivacqua of the open house. “A lot of people were overwhelmed. It’s beautiful, and I’m very excited to have people return.”