It would almost seem that Allen and Ed Mertes are on a mission from God.
Since the formation of their construction and maintenance firm 25 years ago, the Mertes brothers have completed hundreds of rehab and renovation jobs on dozens of area churches.
For these efforts, the Mertes have become known as Chicago`s ”religious rehabbers.”
”It`s very rewarding work, but oftentimes you`re dealing with many unknowns,” said Allen Mertes, executive vice president of the Mertes Contracting Corp.
”And sometimes you`re trusted to repair something back to its original state. But because of the unknowns, there`s no guidelines on how to do it.”
”Sometimes it`s frustrating work as well,” added older brother Edward J. Mertes, president of the general contracting firm.
”You would like to restore everything back to its original state. But the problem is the costs are prohibitive. You really feel for some of these churches and parishes, but sometimes it`s simply a matter of economics.”
Mertes Contracting Corp., 1741 N. California Ave., began working with houses of worship almost from the day the firm was begun by the brothers`
father, Edward, in 1964.
”It (the religious rehabbing business) really started back with my father,” said Ed, who took over the business with his brother when their father retired in 1973.
”He had many schoolmates from his days at Holy Family Grammar School on 12th Street (Roosevelt Road) that became monsignors. So he knew a lot of priests and started doing work for them on their churches.”
Through word-of-mouth, news of the Mertes` work has spread across the city and suburbs to churches of all faiths.
”We`re nondenominational,” Ed Mertes said with a chuckle.
”Over the years we`ve done work on all types. We`ve even done seminaries and schools. But we have worked with mostly Catholic churches because there a great number of older Catholic churches in the Chicago area.”
The Mertes brothers now are involved in what they consider one of their most interesting jobs: rehabbing the historic Chicago Temple, in the heart of the Loop. The firm is handling some $2 million worth of rehabilitation at the Temple.
The 1922 structure, at 77 W. Washington St., serves the First United Methodist Church, which is housed in only a part of the Gothic building. Business offices occupy some of the 3d and 4th floors and all of the 5th through 21st floors.
The Mertes firm, which previously had tuckpointed parts of the building and rebuilt a free-standing spire, is reworking the entire spire complex of the 568-foot-tall building. The work is expected to be completed this year or early in 1990.
”The size of the stones and the detail of the workmanship up in the spires is considerably different from any other office building, even an older one,” said Gene D. Cameron, manager and agent for the Chicago Temple building.
”There`s a great deal more intricacy to this work. The work calls for a lot of care and detail.
”So we`re very pleased with the work (of the Mertes brothers),” Cameron said. ”They`re very well qualified and extremely sensitive to the ownership of these properties. They have very much earned their title of religious rehabbers.”
In addition to the Chicago Temple, recent rehab and renovation church work by Mertes Contracting Corp. include Our Lady of Peace, at 7851 S. Jeffery Blvd., Our Lady of Mercy, 4432 N. Troy St., and the Nativity of Our Lord, 653 W. 37th St.
Work on such Chicago edifices pose a number of challenges to the Mertes brothers.
”We like the more unusual and elaborate jobs,” Ed Mertes said. ”And they all seem to be unusual or elaborate.”
For example, one of the challenges of religious rehabbing can be finding historical data on the structures.
”Most of the buildings we work on were built in the 1920s and the 1930s and what have you,” Al Mertes said. ”So a lot of the time it`s very difficult to locate the original drawings to find out how something was built. ”That`s where the intricacy of repairing something comes in. You have an idea of how it (a structure) was put together. But you may not know exactly how.”
Often the Mertes brothers try to fill in the missing pieces with a little detective work. Their current job drew them to the archives of the Chicago Historical Society, where the original drawings for the Chicago Temple are preserved.
”The plans were helpful in that they revealed the absence of steel used where we thought it should be,” Ed Mertes said.
Also, the logistics of religious rehab work can be a challenge.
”Due to the architectural nature of most churches, just to get to the work can be a very extensive job with scaffolding and such,” Al Mertes said. ”A lot of planning goes into these jobs.”
The location of the churches can come into play, too.
”The Chicago Temple has been one of our toughest jobs because of the logistics of where it is located,” Ed Mertes said.
”It`s in a part of the Loop where you can`t even park on the street. And the congestion is incredible. I don`t know how many people walk across the street there. We`ve got some huge stones to be removed up on the top of the building. So we`d better know what we`re doing.”
Other problems deal with the nature of the religious buildings.
”Often, we have had to stop work for a mass or a funeral,” Ed Mertes said.
”We have also worked around school schedules.”
There also is the tribulation of doing heavy work in a house of worship.
”When we`re doing remodeling work on the inside (of religious structures), we often have to pass through the altars,” Ed Mertes said. ”A lot of our people may not be of the same faith as the church they`re working on. But no matter what type of church you`re in, you treat any of these areas with respect.”
The job also comes with its frustrations. For example, money comes into play, especially with the older, struggling churches.
”Some of the priests will ask if you can hold the work, or can they pay you after the parish carnival,” Ed Mertes said. ”They don`t really ask for discounts, but you try to help them out. You know which ones need help.”
”We can`t give it away, but our work is competitively bid,” Al Mertes said.
”Sometimes it`s tough because you have to look at what they have to spend and determine what are their most immediate needs. In some cases you could rebuild the church. But they`ll only have X amount of dollars. So we`ll say here`s where you should start.
”It`s unfortunate, but the cost of rehabbing has gone up over the years, while attendance and collections have gone down at some churches,” Al said. He cited as one example the St. Mary of the Angels church, 1850 Hermitage St., which is closed because of deterioration. A group of parishoners is trying to raise money for restoration, which is estimated at $4.1 million.
The brothers say it is frustrating to watch some of Chicago`s older and more exquisite churches waste away because of lack of funding, the Midwest`s extreme weather conditions, and other reasons.
”We don`t take care of our churches here,” Ed Mertes said.
”I think some of these churches should be preserved as monuments. That`s easy for me to say, but where do they come up with the dollars to do this? It would be nice to save a few.”
But the rewards often outweigh the frustrations, the brothers said.
”The architecture of these religious structures is extremely interesting,” Al Mertes said. ”They (the churches) are very ornate and very detailed. To replace some of these structures would be astronomical as far as costs.”
”These are beautiful monuments,” Ed Mertes said. ”It`s a pleasure to work with some of these places.”
Religious rehabbing is but a small share of Mertes` overall business. The firm, which specializes in maintaining masonry, has three divisions:
maintenance contracting, general contracting and a recently added paving business.
The Chicago firm has worked on many historic secular structures, including the Shedd Aquarium, the First National Bank Building, the Field Museum of Natural History, Buckingham Fountain, Tribune Tower and the Carson Pirie Scott Building.
”Our business has grown steadily each and every year and is still growing,” Al Mertes said. ”We`re very content with what we have
accomplished.
”We also like the challenges we have faced, especially with most of our church work,” Ed Mertes said. ”It has been very satisfying.”
