Historic Rehab Projects - Mission San Luis The San Luis Church was of log, pole and thatch construction on an archaeologically sensitive site. Allstate established security procedures and worked closely with the Archeological staff to insure preservation of artifacts encountered during construction. Unconventional construction techniques and the resurrection of dated construction crafts was necessary to successfully complete the project. The Church was reconstructed according to information obtained from Archives in Spain on the original building footprint. Due to burials within the footprint the placement of the support poles had to be exact to avoid disturbance of the burials. The construction documents required that all materials be historically correct; thus materials were hand picked in order to insure compliance. Also, the poles had to have a hand debarked appearance, not the machine debarked appearance of modern poles. The lumber had to have saw marks replicating their production in a period saw pit, thus could not have circular saw marks. The thatch was authentic from local palms, and modern fasteners could not be in open view. It was necessary to harmoniously incorporate the period materials and construction methods with modern building codes. Allstate was successful in obtaining the right materials and craftsmen to complete the project. The fire sprinkler, security, lighting and ADA installations were inconspicuous, and did not impact the historic and interpretive intent of the project. Click on the images below for a larger view.