Mines of Spain chapel roof rehab

An unwelcome surprise was in store for Paul Meissner and his crew as they worked on an old chapel at E.B. Lyons nature preserve.

Though it has been decades since the 150-plus-year-old structure has been used for worship, it was far from uninhabited.

“I think every bat in the Mines of Spain was living in that roof there,” Meissner said.

Work recently wrapped up on the restoration of the chapel, which was built by Otto Junkermann in the 1860s. The building is one of the last remnants of an old farmstead that now is home to E.B. Lyons preserve in Mines of Spain State Recreation Area in Dubuque.

The project was supported by a $17,000 fundraising effort by Friends of the Mines of Spain. The effort was led by Gerda Preston Hartman, who said she views the chapel as a “spiritual place.” (full article...)

BY BEN JACOBSON Dubuque Telegraph Herald, November 21, 2016

This copyrighted material is posted with permission of TH Media