The fate of the old St. John's Episcopal Church in Janesville was a landfill. That was until an Eagle Lake man decided to give the old church new life.
Where most people see an old church, Scott Schaible sees perfectly good lumber.
Schaible says, "Instead of going to the landfill it is serving a new purpose and getting a new life."
Schaible and his brother make a living recycling historic and antique building products, so when he heard about St. John's Episcopal Church, he couldn't just let it be demolished.
Schaible says, "Every piece of material we salvage and sell saves a tree, it is all about being green recycling, why put it in a landfill when it can be used again."
Schaible says almost all of the materials from the church will be saved, from the siding and the square nails, to the bricks from the chimney.
The boards used to build the church in 1874 will be resurrected as a kitchen floor or siding on a house.
The frame will be used to build a garage Schaible has wanted to add onto his house for 5 years.
Schaible says, "The original plans were for a 24 by 54 two–story, and this happens to be 26 by 54 two story, so I got kind of lucky when I stumbled into this one."
There is a lot of history behind the building Schaible recycles, which he does his best to preserve.
Schaible says, "Whoever ends up buying the structure we try to get old photographs, any old photos we can find."
That way people can appreciate the history of the materials while building a future with them.
To learn more about Schaible's work go to his company, American Barnwood's website.
