February 16, 2010

The monks were able to move back into the Abbey church after six weeks in the calefactory as a temporary celebration space while renovations were underway. The main project was the installation of a new floor on top of the original tile and linoleum flooring, worn down by 79 years of daily usage.

The new floor in ‘Engineered Stone’ keeps some of the diamond-shaped pattern of the old floor, but with differences in intricacy of design between the sanctuary, choir and nave. The colors are blue-grey in large squares surrounded by reddish-brown bands. A new sound system was also installed and the hardness of the new surfaces has improved the acoustic quality of the church.

Old floor, looking from the sanctuary to the nave.

New floor, looking from nave to sanctuary