(light intro music) (bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) - [Dispatcher] Fire department, where is your emergency?

- [Reverend Hofmann] 1046 North State Street, it's Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, the roof is on fire here.

- [Dispatcher] Okay, so you're on 9th and State?

- Yes.

- Okay, what do you see exactly sir?

- The entire roof is on fire.

Apparently they're putting in a new roof and I don't know how it caught, but it's going - Okay, I do have the fire department on the way, I have them sent.

(sirens wailing) (fire roaring) - May 15th, 2018.

And as I went to flip the switch off, something caught my eye and I looked and I saw a piece of cloth falling down from a scaffold and the cloth was on fire.

And then I saw the fire jump from the scaffold onto the roof.

- I got a call from, Hunter, right after he called 911, and he said, "Our church is on fire!"

- [Chief Lipski] From the south side of I-94, I could see the column of smoke.

Our dispatchers were receiving a crushing amount of phone calls reporting something's on fire, 'cause everybody's seeing it from a different vantage point.

- We heard the sirens and that sort of thing going on and we didn't know what it was.

- The news came on and, yeah, everybody's following it very closely.

(sirens wailing continues) It was a shocking day.

- I saw the smoke and it was just, I mean the flames and the smoke, it was like, I can't believe it.

- That's when life kinda changed.

(sirens wailing continues) (intro music) - Right now they are still really targeting the church with water.

They are spraying the church from every single angle.

- [Reporter] The collapsing roof captured in this stunning and heartbreaking video.

The one-alarm fire quickly turned to two, three, and four.

- It was growing, like as fast as I could conceive of what was on fire, it was jumping and growing, and I remember being able to feel the radiant heat from across the street.

- [Chief Lipski] The church and the adjacent building are clear.

The inside, there was no fire showing inside, it appeared to all be on the roof.

- When I had confirmation that the fire department was on the way, the very first thing I did, I went throughout the building and I opened all the doors because I didn't want some firemen coming with their axes and chopping through these doors.

- I don't think most people really think of firefighters as sentimental folks, but you know, you really stand there just going, uh, and you see the window failing, 'cause you're never gonna replace that.

We try very hard to preserve those sorts of things, but sometimes the fire just wins.

Ladder two, and ladder nine, got their main body of water flowing.

We were able to start seeing the knocking down of the main body of fire.

- [Narrator] Founded in 1847 by German immigrants, Trinity Lutheran Church was Wisconsin's first Lutheran congregation in the Missouri Synod.

Located since 1878 at its current site, the Victorian Gothic Church, by architect Frederick Velguth, is built with Cream City brick, a limestone foundation, hand-carved woodwork, and a 200-foot north tower holding three historic bells.

Interior treasures include: stained glass of the gospel writers; alter paintings by Friedrich Whaley; and wrought iron chandeliers by Cyril Colnik.

In May of 2018, a new roof was being installed when the tragic fire broke out.

(fire roaring) The next day, once it was safe, members of the congregation got their first look at the damage.

- [Congregation Member] You could see the whole roof was missing.

I went inside, kinda surveyed the situation, and just looked it all over and.

- [Reverend Hofmann] I came in here and I gathered up everything that I could get hands on.

(bright music continues) So there was a lot of damage.

I mean, the debris in here was waist-deep, practically, and we tried to save as much as we could.

- [Worker] Yep, here we go, ah yeah!

- So we went up the scaffolding and kinda, in the back, and looked down at the organ and you're like, uh, it's heartbreaking to see the mess.

Everything just melted, and the wood was gone.

(bright music continues) - [Reverend Hofmann] There were certain people in the insurance industry, there were certain people from our own senate that said, "Bulldoze it down and we'll rebuild someplace else."

- [Congregation Member] But the majority of the building was in place and my first thoughts was, there's an awful lot of building left, you know, this can be put back together.

This is doable.

(background talking) - And there was just a love for this building and there was enough to save, there was enough that we could rebuild, it was unanimous.

- [Narrator] Driven by the congregation's determination to rebuild, Wisconsin's finest artisans and craftsmen were assembled to restore the historic church.

(light orchestral music) A Milwaukee firm led the architectural and historic preservation efforts for the church's restoration.

Their leadership was instrumental in blending modern technology with traditional craftsmanship to ensure the church's restoration would honor its historic significance while preparing it for the future.

- [Scott] Mark and I were in the sanctuary the day after the fire.

- [Mark] Just the main bones of the building, you know, the main structure, the bricks, and the mortar, and all that, were still intact.

- And so we kinda made a commitment to restore the building in a very disciplined way, but maybe without a wood roof structure to a congregation who had just suffered that kind of a loss.

- [Mark] Initially we had to support the vertical masonry walls, because they were unsupported.

We worked with a structural engineer at Pierce Engineering.

- [Shilak] We designed some steel beams that goes against the backside of the wall, so basically stiffening the wall so it doesn't topple, and that's the first thing that we installed.

- Maybe we can work on getting this pile of junk outta here.

- [Narrator] Once the structure was stabilized, attention turned to gathering what could be salvaged.

Teams carefully collected and organized items, from fragments of wood, and metal, to pieces of stain glass, all remnants of the church's rich past awaiting restoration.

- [Reverend Hofmann] Every piece of wood seemed like it had 10 nails sticking through it and you had to be careful where you put your feet so you didn't run a nail through your foot.

We hauled the pictures outta here, hauled them over to Conrad Schmitt for preservation work.

- The murals are on canvas, a fabric, a porous material, that would absorb all of that smoke damage so when they came in we kept them separate from the rest of the studio for a time because of that odor.

There were some tears in some of the canvases, but we are experienced in repairing that kind of damage.

- To give you an example, this is some of pieces that we would pick up off the floor and obviously we can't use these anymore, but again, we preserved everything.

You don't assume anything at that point, you gather everything you can, doesn't matter how big or small.

- I can only compare it to like an archeological dig to where you're finding these little bits and pieces, and twisted metal, and it's like, where do you start?

- Surprised that more hadn't burned?

Yeah, I mean you saw a lot of water damage, you saw a lot of damage from the beam structure, but kinda hopeful that there was so much still intact.

It was good to see that it was still there and there was still something to work from, so that was hopeful.

- This is a wax catcher, candle holder, that came off of a Colnik candelabra.

This was found in the rubble on the left side of the altar.

- [Narrator] All salvageable items were carefully cataloged and prepped for restoration.

As the church cleared of debris, and the charred old roof rafters removed, artisans throughout the region worked in their studios, each focused on restoring a vital part of Trinity's legacy.

Meanwhile, architects and engineers prepared for the intricate process of manufacturing and installing the new roof structure.

(light upbeat music) - We started with the outside shell, it's kinda shown here.

We replaced the roof with a steel structure.

- [Narrator] Building and installing the new steel roof trusses was a massive job that required precision and strength.

Each steel truss had to be meticulously customized and fitted individually as every part required specific adjustments to align with the unique and often oblique dimensions of the 150-year-old structure.

- I love very old buildings because I thought that the building wants to tell me something, so I wanna listen to what the building wants to tell me.

I had an opportunity to learn how it was built.

When we build something new, and fitting in the old, 'cause the dimension may not be accurate and the walls may not be perfectly in plum, one distance for one truss may not work for the other spacing, so yeah, we had that challenge.

- [Narrator] The restoration brings a unique opportunity to usher the church into the 21st Century while preserving its historic beauty.

The renovation incorporates modern comforts, and efficiencies, like air conditioning, and a state-of-the-art heating system to replace the steam heat that once silently warmed the congregation beneath each pew.

Also added was insulation to provide excellent acoustics and a sprinkler system for fire safety.

These updates, cleverly hidden from sight, not only preserves the church, but also ensures it will remain a welcoming, comfortable space, for generations to come.

- [Worker] The structural steel that's holding up all the plaster and the drywall, was pre-bent by computers, using all the scans and all the computer work that the architects had put into it, it was all bent by computers and it came out like a big Erector set.

- [Scott] You can see from the underside how the vaulting fits underneath those trusses.

- [Mark] The skin, the inside skin, the arches, all started taking shape.

There aren't as many people out there doing it anymore and a couple people came out of retirement just to work on this church and do the plaster skin that's on the top of three layers of drywall.

- [Narrator] Once the plaster work was complete, attention turned to the interior paint schemes, transforming the church into a canvas for vibrant color and meaningful symbolism.

(light orchestral music) - We decided to work with Conrad Schmitt on the paint schemes.

- Any historic building, it's important to respect the past, but also keep your eye on the future.

Trinity was an especially interesting project.

When the parish was deciding how to rebuild, after the fire, there was a lot of discussion about whether we should return to the original historic decoration, or whether we should restore the decoration at the time of the fire.

They were really interested in a timeless look.

Ultimately, we ended up with a new scheme that looks more toward the future.

So our artists here at Conrad Schmitt, helped them design an interior scheme with meaning, and beauty, that's gonna stand the test of time.

The decorative painting on the interior is a series of stencils full of symbolism for the church, full of meaning and traditional colors.

(light orchestral music continues) The murals that we've worked on are part of the altarpiece.

There's a series of six murals that rotate throughout the liturgical year that we've conserved for Trinity.

- [Restoration Painter] It is just an adhesive to prevent more flaking when I'm trying to do cleaning around them.

Like these huge ones I have to use a different approach, but some of these small areas I just go in and kind of work around the edges of the big missing space and catch those edges of the paint and make sure they stay where they're at.

- [Narrator] As restoration continued on the mural paintings focus was shifted to another of Trinity's cherished features, the chandeliers.

Created by Milwaukee's renowned metal artist, Cyril Colnik, whose work also graces other Milwaukee landmarks such as the Pabst Mansion.

These fixtures suffered extensive damage from the fire.

- [Reverend Hofmann] The church had two of 'em, they go back between 1880 and 1900.

The beams that came down in the fire pretty much destroyed one of the candelabra and badly damaged the other.

- What we need the people for is just to lift the light fixture up in the air.

- [Worker] We went ahead and the one light fixture, that had fallen down in the pile of rubble, I said, "Let's go ahead and hook onto this chain," and we had just enough capacity with the crane and we lifted that chandelier out of a pile of rubble.

(light orchestral music continues) - [Restoration Worker] Complete twisted wreck, hardly able to even see what it was supposed to look like, we came up, picked it up on a trailer, and then from there it was a fact of tearing everything apart, taking everything down to bolts and nuts, and we started to heat- (hammer banging) Band, and weld, and sometimes even re-fabricate new parts to where we ended up with what we have now.

- [Worker] And it goes like that.

- [Narrator] Once all the bits and pieces were carefully restored, and repaired, the chandeliers could finally be reassembled, but the work wasn't over yet.

A father and son electrical team, from the Milwaukee area, rewired the chandeliers ensuring they would once again shine brightly in the restored church.

- Everybody's awestruck, and me too, by the size.

It's just about just about 900 pounds, which is light, when you look at the size of it.

It's about eight feet in diameter, it's 13 feet tall without the chains, but then you've got 25 feet of chains with medallions in-between, so, it's sizable.

- [Narrator] The chandeliers, highlights of Colnik's artistry, are now also symbols of both resilience and restoration.

(organ music playing) The organ at Trinity was more than just a musical instrument, it was the heartbeat of the sanctuary.

- [Stanton] The organ, of course, rightly the main fire, especially on one side of it, it's amazing, in some respects, how much of it actually survived.

- [Reverend Hofmann] 'Cause it was burned, from two feet on up was gone, but the sound boxes were still intact.

(organ music playing) - William Schuelke, who built it, German-trained organ builder, I think his family was in the organ business and then moved to Milwaukee in about 1875.

- [Reverend Hofmann] Schuelke was a member of the congregation and his pride and joy was the organ that he built for this church.

- [Stanton] Extraordinary workmanship and even the design of the organ itself, in term of mechanics, very clever, and complicated, and so beautifully built, just nice little details.

Well, the organ had some lovely romantic sounds in it, a full and rich sound, so it ultimately played an awful lot of different literature, quite well.

From Baroque music, to romantic, to even some modern music, it was surprising how well it worked.

(chain rattling) - 30-feet down, cable down 20 feet.

- How they grabbed the wood pipes, took those out.

The wind chests, where all the pipes fit, how do you deal with this?

I said, "Well, what we're gonna do is strap it to hook through the crane and have the crane operator put a little upward tension, and then the four guys," I said, "Just cut through the legs building frames."

(mimicking cutting sounds) Up it went.

- [Worker] You oughta be able to see it in a minute.

- Up and out.

- [Worker] Cable up, speed it up.

You got it, thank you.

- So it was really sad, it was a sad, sad day that we lost that organ because you can't reproduce it.

We can get close to it, we can make it look the same, but it's never gonna be exactly the same because of the way Schuelke put his heart and soul into building that thing, and the way it was built, and that's one of the sad things.

- The altar, that was the first thing that could come out.

We lifted up the top three arches, brought the eight columns out, and then the stage out, and that all came back to the shop in a couple trailer loads.

Then that three-arch piece came down to the floor very carefully, and very slowly, and then that got brought here to the shop on the same trailer as well.

And then the next step is to soda blast all the old finish off of it.

So we started with a baking soda, kinda like a sand blaster, but not as aggressive, that takes all the finish off, but it leaves the wood grain not harmed.

So then after that happens, then some sanding will happen, but a lot of the pieces start getting assembled and then re-sanded, refinished, and put back together.

That's the short answer (laughing).

A lot of the carvings on the altar, and the pulpit, were made out of horsehair plaster.

So the horsehair was actually a binder, much like fiberglass, but over 150 years it deteriorates, it crumbles, and it came apart.

So there were a couple samples of these things after the fire, but very few.

So we were fortunate in the sense that out of each one of these parts we could get a digital scan and we'd get a digital scan in a 3D rendering and I can program that for our CNC.

(router motor whirring) And we'll cut those pieces out of foam and then they get glued together, sanded, and then colored to replicate what the original horsehair plaster looked like, 'cause if it was plaster before, we'll do it in foam, now, if it was wood before we make sure we recreate it outta wood now, and that may happen on the CNC as well, or it may happen by hand.

Some things are getting turned on a lathe, some things are still being traditionally manufactured.

When we're doing these capitals each column has a variance a little bit, and depending on the architecture of the building, or depending on how the plaster guys finished it, there be a variance from an inch deep, or two inches, maybe just an 1/8, but so each one gets measured very carefully, but yes, every single part of it's custom.

The pews are probably some of the most ornate that I've seen, all damaged by the lumber that came down from the roof.

The fascinating part with that, there were about 10 or 15 of 'em that weren't completely destroyed.

We took those all apart, de-nailed 'em, and machined them and used that material to make a lot of the carvings on the altar and the lectern for the basement.

- [Narrator] After exhausting several offsite temporary spaces for worship, the congregation turned to their own church basement, despite the fact that it had also been severely damaged by the fire.

- [Congregation Member] And this whole lower level, it looked like something out of a horror story.

We decided to put the chapel down here for temporary use, knowing we had a big long road ahead upstairs.

- [Narrator] The transformation of the basement began with the team finding creative ways to repurpose damaged materials.

In addition to the lectern being crafted from reclaimed pews, the charred roof beams from upstairs were used to create a new floor for the altar downstairs.

- So we took all the beams over at Ben's shop and took all the chars off of 'em, and sent them through some planers, and some sanders, and you see the altar floor here that's actually made out of all the roof timbers, it's all the burnt beams.

♪ Amen, amen ♪ - [Narrator] This temporary worship space, in the basement, built from the remnants of the church's past, is a powerful reminder that even in the face of devastation, the congregation's faith, and commitment to their church, remains unshaken.

(indistinct) (congregation clapping) (light orchestral music) - [Scott] We worked with Oakbrook-Esser to go ahead and remove the windows as they were.

They started and one of the most important areas was the alter area, and they were making patterns, and took the dimensions.

Soon they started hauling the stained glass back to their studio.

- The first thing I guess we thought about was we needed to preserve as much as we can of what was left, so let's get everything out, bring everything back to the studio and then that's really where it starts.

And everything was very carefully recorded and put in legal boxes and everything was very well-organized relating to its location in the church.

This is one of the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, this is what would be left of the head and the rest of that would've come, you know, that's quite a bit missing there.

But pieces like this, if we flip that over, there's a little bit of detail in there that shows us what the design element was and we know this is coming back down this way too, so even though we're not using this exact piece, it will give us a lot of clear direction to reproduce the windows.

(light orchestral music continues) - It's kind of like, like detective work, it's pretty fun in that way where you go and look at, in this case the fragments that we had, and some old pictures, and different things, to try to discover what it looked like originally.

- And this is part of the process for reconstructing, 'cause three of the four were pretty badly damaged, you know, two of them were almost completely damaged.

Paul realized that the stained glass that was in place was in pretty bad shape so we're actually going to reuse some of the parts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and all the other stained glass will be all reproductions and new glass so that it can be good for many years to come.

Just the figure portion of each in those windows is about 16 feet tall and what you see on this table, this table's about 16-feet tall, and the width is the full width of the window, and the height, that's pretty much the whole height of the window.

- Looking at a pattern you can discover a little bit about how the original designer from, in this case, like 100 years ago, or more, you can discover what he was thinking about.

You kinda get into the mindset of the past, it's neat.

This section, right here, is about as high up in the window as you can go.

There's a rondel, a circular window, right up on the top and this is just one small element of it.

It'll actually be hard to see so far up there, but it will look nice, I promise (laughing).

- [Paul] After the designing and all of the layouts are done, the next big step is the glass cutting.

It's cut very simply in a way with a standard, you could use a steel, or a carbide cutter.

Well, they're all cut the pattern, you cut the patterns out, you cut the glass- (glass snapping) To the pattern.

You paint all the details on that glass, and then the step of assembly is called glazing and that's where you take each individual piece of glass in a came, in a lead came in this case, and you fit that came around each piece.

And then once that's done it gets soldered together and joints on both sides.

(solder tool sizzling) And then there's probably a good 10 steps involved, all labor-intensive, that's a big part of what we do is the labor-intensity.

So the church is a sum of all the parts, for sure, and the Word, the music, and the people.

- [Narrator] On Reformation Day, 2024, Trinity Lutheran Church welcomed the public to the sanctuary for the first time since the devastating fire.

(background talking) Drawing a standing-room only crowd.

The event was a heartfelt celebration of the church's resilience and enduring community presence, as the congregation, and guests, admired the beautifully restored space.

- There's a reason God left this building here, and it was certainly because the city of Milwaukee needed this light on a hill.

That's what this building means is that this is a place where God's Word goes forward and the preaching, and the sacraments, and all the memories with the new people who are gonna be making the new memories.

We're gonna have a lot of babies baptized in this church, and that's why we're still here, I truly believe that.

(light orchestral music continues) - [Narrator] Although there is still much work to be done to complete the restoration, this gathering symbolized an important milestone highlighting Trinity's rich heritage and its renewed commitment to serve as a vibrant space for worship and community life.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) (bright music continues)