Commercial Case Study

Project Overview

Founded in 1856 as the Mount Zion Hebrew Association, the Mount Zion Temple was founded as the first Jewish congregation in Minnesota, predating Minnesota’s own statehood. Their temple was built much later in 1953, designed by prominent avant-garde architect Erich Mendelsohn. Unfortunately, the facilities hadn’t been refreshed in over 20 years, leading to some damage to the walls and peeling wallpaper in its sanctuary. To breath new life into their space, the Mount Zion Temple Association called on the expertise of CertaPro Painters® of South Metro for an ambitious painting project.

Initial Condition

During our initial assessment of the sanctuary, we noticed that there was some water damage on the walls, which was causing some of the wallpaper to fall off. Also, the facility hadn’t been painted in over 20 years and some of the drywall had cracks in it. Overall, the sanctuary was showing big signs of wear and age.

Scope of Work

• Complete repaint of the entire sanctuary area, including painting walls and ceilings that were 53 feet in height
• Removal of all wallpaper and repair of water-damaged areas
• Repair of damaged drywall to create an optimal painting surface
• Sand, skim coat, and paint the upper walls

Challenges and Solutions

This project presented many different challenges we were not accustomed to in our regular religious facility painting services. First, we had to ensure that the sanctuary remained clean while respecting the temple’s regular services. Additionally in the Jewish faith, there is a candle in the sanctuary area that burns forever, which was located in the area where we would be working. The facility managers asked if we could work around the eternal flame, so we devised a way to protect the flame from our work while preventing paint overspray.

We also had some access issues due to the sanctuary’s old floor. Scaffolding was out of the question due to its high costs and the sanctuary’s unique architecture, so we removed the pews, created a wood base on top of the sanctuary’s existing floors, and draped plastic over all surfaces to protect the sanctuary from overspray and dust. We also used special lift that was able to fit through the synagogue’s normal doors while still be able to access the higher parts of the sanctuary. As a result, the timeline stretched a bit longer than normal as 80% of the area could only be accessed by 1-2 painters.

Equipment and Techniques

• Used a special lift to access the higher areas of the sanctuary while installing a wood base for it to sit on so that the sanctuary’s existing floors were protected
• Used our expertise to lightly repair and prepare damaged drywall and other water-damaged areas for proper paint application
  Properly prepared the area to prevent overspray and dust build-up
• Removed the peeling wallpaper, which requires proper care and knowledge

Conclusion

The restoration of Mount Zion Temple’s sanctuary took us about 4 weeks to complete in January of 2025. Without the peeling wallpaper and damaged areas, the space looked brand new while maintaining its welcoming atmosphere. This painting project flexed our painting knowledge when it comes to proper preparation and technical skills like wallpaper removal and painting surface repairs. Now, Mount Zion Temple continues to stand as a beautiful prayer space as well as a historic center of Judaism within the state of Minnesota.