Church tests sprinklers in wake of Notre Dame
PHILADELPHIA >> A sprinkler system check at a church that was frequented by George Washington and Benjamin Franklin drew a crowd Wednesday, with dozens of people watching as sheets of water poured from the 196-foot (60-meter) steeple.
Christ Church leaders breathed a sigh of relief at the sight: The system check showed that the church has done all it can do to protect itself from a fire similar to the one that tore through Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this week.
“One reason we did this was to show symbolic solidarity with Notre Dame,” said Barbara Hogue, executive director of the Christ Church preservation fund. “But it’s also because we’re about to start renovations here, too, and we thought it was really prudent to start by testing our fire system, to be sure that, in the event something happens, we were prepared.”
The landmark Christ Church was founded in 1695 and has been in continuous use ever since. Besides Washington and Franklin, its notable congregants included other signers of the Declaration of Independence and Betsy Ross. Visitors can sit in their centuries-old pews or marvel at a spire funded by a campaign launched by Franklin in the mid-1700s.
The spire was struck by lightning in 1908, but the ensuing fire was quickly quashed by rain. In the 1920s, church leaders installed the
first sprinkler system.
Because the spire is slanting about 22 inches (56 centimeters) off-center and there are other maintenance needs, the church is in the midst of a $3.1 million capital campaign. It has raised $2.5 million, which includes a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities.