Rescuing Manila’s Steel Church

It has survived World War II, at least 11 major earthquakes and numerous typhoons that have ravaged Manila over the past 120 years. And the Basilica of San Sebastian–the only all-metal church in Asia–would seem to the casual visitor to be strong enough to withstand even more calamities through this century.

But something is threatening the only neo-Gothic church in the Philippines. It isn’t readily visible on its light-green façade or twin bell towers, nor in its interiors, which are faux finished to look like marble and stone.

Over the years, rain water has seeped into the hollow columns, corroding them from within. Close inspection will reveal the problem eating away at the steel doors, columns and walls, all pre-fabricated in Belgium in the late 1880s and shipped to the Manila in nine steamships.

“You have 3 million pounds of steel riveted and screwed together. Each seam is a potential source of water leak that causes corrosion,” said Tina Paterno, the conservator and executive director of the San Sebastian Basilica Conservation and Development Foundation Inc. who spent a decade as an architectural conservator in New York.

The conservation board is pulling together a game plan to save the church, which holds masses daily and was designated as a national historical landmark in 1973.

Much of the restoration and conservation strategy will depend on the results of a comprehensive diagnostic survey of the church funded by a $92,000-grant from the U.S. ambassador to Manila. It’s expected to be completed by the middle of 2013.

The Augustinian Recollects, a Roman Catholic religious order of friars and nuns founded in Spain during the 16th century, have funds for the restoration that will follow, but early indications suggest their funds won’t be enough.

Ms. Paterno says she can’t estimate how much the restoration will cost, likening the question to a doctor being asked how much treatment will cost before tests have been completed on a patient. In addition to repairing the walls and the columns, workers must restore the murals that adorn the church’s interior.

Augustinian Recollect priest Rene Paglinawan, secretary to the conservation board, said workers in earlier repair efforts used cement and cloth to plug leaks in the columns, exacerbating the corrosion problem. He said the conservation group, formed in 2008, wants to ensure the work is done right, regardless of time and cost.

Completed in 1891, the church was designed by Spanish architect Genaro Palacios, then the director of public works in Manila. Several churches built before the basilica were destroyed by the frequent earthquakes that visit the Philippines, which sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

“This church was built to withstand strong earthquakes…and the structural engineers give us the good news that it is probably stronger that it needed to be because there were no industrial standards then, so they covered their bases,” said Ms. Paterno. “It’s also very high quality steel.”

Volunteers work on the church during weekdays, in between masses held in the morning and around dusk. Their ingenuity is evident in the solutions they have devised to undertake the diagnostic survey. On a recent Monday, for example, Alix dela Fuente and Joaquin Benares, both students on breaks from their studies abroad, tinkered with a drone that will fly up to the church’s dome to shoot video needed to assess the damage on the structure. The dome is sealed and is over 30 feet above the church floor.

Corrosion scientist Robert Baboian, a consultant for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, is also among the many people extending a helping hand pro bono.

Florence Fajatin, 64, a longtime parishioner and volunteer at the church, looks forward to the restoration getting under way.

“If you look closely, you’ll see rust is eating away the steel. And when it rains, you’ll see water dripping down from the ceiling,” Ms. Fajatin lamented.

Novelita Costa, 28, dreams of saying her wedding vows at the church, underscoring its special appeal to Catholic Filipinos.

“Many couples, celebrities included, marry here because this Basilica is made of steel. They believe their marriage, like this church, will be as strong as steel. That it will last forever,” said Ms. Costa.