Oldest church, newest technology: Santa Fe's centuries-old San Miguel Chapel goes solar

Aug. 24—A structure doesn't get to be known as America's oldest Catholic church — maybe the country's oldest church period — by waiting out the years, the elements and the hazardous episodes of history.

Santa Fe's San Miguel Chapel, believed to have been built about 1610, has evolved and rebounded through the centuries, surviving assaults and aging while responding to the necessity of adaptation.

"It has been a perpetual community preservation project since the late 1800s," chapel director Laurianne Fiorentino said of the venerable adobe building. "It's made out of mud and will dissolve like sugar if you pour water on it."

The latest chapter in the church's storied existence was the addition this week of 20 solar panels to its roof.

Jake Barrow, program director for Cornerstones, a company that works with communities to restore historic structures and conserve natural resources, said Cornerstones proposed the addition of solar panels because the panels will reduce power costs and be in step with Pope Francis' call to protect the environment.

"Solar is very clean," Barrow said. "It reduces carbon emissions."

He noted San Miguel has undergone a lot of changes — heating, electricity, plumbing — over the years.

"It continues to be a live building," he said. "Sustainability and renewable energy is a positive thing, so making the chapel sustainable and continuing it in its original use is very important."

San Miguel Chapel, 401 Old Santa Fe Trail, is owned by Santa Fe's St. Michael's High School. Barrow said the school's board of trustees required a feasibility study before making a decision on the solar panels.

"Would the roof be strong enough to hold the panels?" Barrow said. "Could the panels be concealed, necessary because the chapel is right in the historic district."

San Miguel has a flat roof sturdy enough for support and a parapet that provides concealment.

"You would have to be in the sky or use a drone to see (the panels)," Barrow said.

The school gave the panel project a green light.

Barrow said once a city permit is issued and the Public Service Company of New Mexico schedules a hook-up, the old church will be solar powered.

Continuing to serve

Fiorentino said San Miguel Chapel is the oldest Catholic structure on its original foundation in which Mass continues to be celebrated. There is Mass at the chapel at 3 p.m. on first Sundays of the month.

The chapel is at the crossroads of the Santa Fe Trail, El Camino Real and the Old Spanish Trail. It is believed that it was built by indigenous people from Mexico who came to New Mexico as settlers and allies of the Spanish. Supervised by Franciscan friars, these people built the church for themselves and for Spanish soldiers. It is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel.

San Miguel endured some tough times. In 1640, it was partly destroyed by Luis de Rojas, a provincial governor who was having some serious disagreements with church authorities. During the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the chapel was damaged and the roof burned. But each time it has been restored and has continued to serve the Catholic community.

In 1859, Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy purchased the chapel and surrounding land for a Catholic school. For nearly 100 years, the chapel was the site of daily Masses for students. St. Michael's High School moved to its present site, on Siringo Road, in 1968.

Today, concerts are performed at the chapel, the Catholic tradition known as Las Posadas is observed there during the Christmas season, St. Michael's High uses the chapel for orientation and retreats, and it is open to the public for visits at scheduled hours every day of the week. Docents are present to tell the chapel's story and answer questions.

Pass the mud

Cornerstones, which was founded in 1986, got involved with San Miguel Chapel in the early 2000s. The company earned a reputation for restoring old mission churches in Mora, La Cueva, Las Trampas, Upper Rociada and other places in northern New Mexico.

Cornerstones knows adobe.

"Like a lot of adobe buildings, San Miguel's walls were in pretty bad shape," Barrow said. "The school asked us in 2004 if we could help out. We launched a research project."

From 2010 to 2015, Cornerstones supervised some 500 volunteers who worked to restore the church's walls. Since that time, the company has continued to work with St. Michael's when the school had projects that fit the company's mission. Barrow said projects are funded by the school, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Catholic Foundation and other nonprofit and corporate entities.

Another project Cornerstones worked on recently was converting San Miguel Chapel's gift shop into a museum and annex that will display photographs and artifacts and serve as a site for workshops.

"The gift shop's wall had been covered with drywall and paneling," Barrow said. "You could not see the adobe wall. And when you cover up adobe walls, there's liable to be some problems back there."

Barrow said Cornerstones used mud plaster and lime washing to restore the walls in the former gift shop, and he is now pleased with both the interior and exterior walls of the old church.

"It's all traditional inside and out," he said.

But those solar panels, the ones you can't see, are a step into the 21st century.