Oxford, MS

Originally built in 1910 by one of the first African American congregations after the Civil War, the Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation began undertaking the preservation process of this building in 2006. The purpose of the preservation is to restore it so that it can continue to play that role and, further, to provide historical documentation about the lives of the African American community. A2H was hired to assist in the preservation process and provide seismic analysis and retrofit options, insuring the structural stability of the building for future generations. This one-story, three-bay, brick masonry center-aisle church with Gothic Revival influence features symmetrical square towers; one of two stories with a bell cast roof and one of three stories with a poly-gonal spire. The building unfortunately had deteriorated to the point where the roof was in danger of collapsing.A2H devised a process to systematically brace the existing exterior façade while replacing the entire load-bearing framing system of the building. Included in the new framing system were seismically retrofitted shear walls. The new system will be designed to meet current building codes for earthquake risks.The project has received a federal funding through the Community Heritage Preservation Grant Program. When completed the renovated structure will provide rooms for housing the important historical papers and current documents of the Oxford Development Association and be renamed the Burns Belfry African American Memory House.