Major Makeovers
A Sunday in the 1940s, when the pews were full and women wore wonderful hats.
Over the decades from the 1950s to the present,
In the big remodeling of 1969, the pink marble
St. Peter’s has undergone several interior
altar we use today was installed in that location
remodelings. In 1952 the ornately carved
with the celebrant facing the congregation. The
wooden rood screen that since 1936 had
former wooden high altar was moved to St.
separated the chancel from the rest of the
Mary’s Chapel, replacing a white marble altar,
sanctuary was moved to St. Mary’s Chapel,
given by the Pheil family, that moved to the
where it remained until another major
Children’s Chapel and later was given to St.
remodeling in 1969, when it was used to create
Augustine’s.
the inner Narthex at the back of the church. That year the original dark cypress pews were
In 1957 the choir stalls, which once faced each
replaced with the oak pews we use today. Some
other on the north and south sides of the
of the cypress was used to panel lower sections
chancel, were moved to face the congregation.
of the walls; other pews were given to other
The walls, once forest green, were painted white,
Episcopal churches, notably St. Anne of Grace
as we see them today. Sheetrock on the ceiling
in Largo. And in another major remodeling in
and semigloss paint richly enhanced the
1989, the choir loft as we know it today was
acoustics of the nave.
created, and air-conditioning ducts that
“What a difference,” recalls former organist and choirmaster Roberta Poellein, then a student of
matched the organ pipes were installed to provide welcome relief for the choir.
organist and choirmaster Robert D. Setzer. “You
In the late 1950s it was discovered that the
could take your hands off the keyboard and still
weight of the roof trusses and the Sheetrock
hear the sound rolling to the back of the
ceiling panels was causing the walls to bow
church.”
outward. A system of cables and turnbuckles was put in place to hold walls and roof together.
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