At Valley Forge, a battle to save a chapel

Sweat drips from her forehead. She strikes her fists on the large keys, her precision evident in the smooth and clear music that sprawls for acres across Valley Forge National Historical Park. The steamy air of a summer night seems to saturate the 100-foot Washington Memorial Chapel steeple that houses the bell tower, where Ulla Laage orchestrates the 58-bell carillon with conviction.

"These bells have a special tone to them," said Laage, a visiting carillonneur from Haslev, Demark, who kicked off the chapel's free summer concert series Wednesday night. "It's a beautiful instrument, beautiful touch, and the sound of the bells. . . . I love it, I really do."

Deborah McConomy-Wallace, 62, of Collegeville, has been a Wednesday-concert regular. She calls the sound "glorious." She rhapsodizes about the building - "an architectural gem. There's just no other place like it."

It is also a building confronting a $4.5 million repair bill, and McConomy-Wallace is doing something about it. She has joined the Washington Memorial Chapel Capital Campaign steering committee to restore the century-old complex, which includes the carillon, the chapel, and surrounding structures.

Last year, the architectural survey team that came up with the price tag called for immediate repairs.

Built in 1903 as a tribute to Gen. George Washington and the patriot soldiers of Valley Forge, the chapel is open every day and welcomes about 60,000 visitors a year, as well as hosting three Episcopal liturgies a week, and special programming year-round, such as the carillon concerts.

"We feel strongly part of the mission of the church is to be here for all Americans," said Gardiner Pearson, 70, of Wayne, a congregant and president of the Washington Memorial Heritage nonprofit, which coordinates with the chapel and supports its restoration projects.

Years of wear and weather have chipped away parts of the ornamentation, and severe water damage from leaks has eroded stone carvings, damaged stained-glass windows, discolored walls, and now threatens the overall structure of the historic building. Although it is located within the park, it receives no federal funds.

Volunteers kicked off a three-year restoration campaign last month. Before the launch, they raised $500,000 but hope to double that by the end of the year so work can begin in the spring, said Jason Griggs, chairman of the campaign's steering committee. They plan to raise the rest while repairs and restoration are underway, Griggs said.

"The need is great; people have been very generous, and we hope that they will continue to be," said McConomy-Wallace, who likes to attend the weekly summer concert programs with her husband, son, and other members of her community.

"We think it's an integral part of people's Valley Forge experience," she said. "We're a small congregation, so we're hoping for community support, national support."

Musicians from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and around the United States will come to play the chapel's carillon this season, drawing crowds in the hundreds to hear the unique chimes.

The chapel has one of only 180 carillons in North America. The massive instruments have at least 23 bells arranged to harmonize when played from a keyboard and foot pedals.

Often compared with the organ, with which Laage and Washington Memorial Chapel carillonneur Doug Gefvert started their careers, the carillon quickly won them over, and "we never went back," Gefvert said.

"Once I found the true instrument, [the organ] could just never compare to the carillon, in what it could do, in the response," said Gefvert, who has climbed the 112 steps to approach the instrument countless times in the last 40 years. "People love bells. . . . It's a big sound, it tends to cover an area and make that area special."

Alvin Kongsjord, 64, stood beside his family - all first-time carillon concertgoers - as Laage began the show with the National Anthem and then her Danish version, as per tradition in Valley Forge.

"I think it's fascinating whenever you can arrange a song to fit an instrument that has a limited number of pitches available," said Kongsjord, who plays the organ in a band in Palm Bay, Fla. "I loved it very much."

So did his grandchildren Rory, 7, and Theo, 9, who set up a blanket on the lawn with their parents and Kongsjord. Rory made her way during the show to the front to view a livestream of Laage playing.

Singing the National Anthem also precedes the weekly liturgies, as does a prayer for a specific state. Pearson said the chapel today embodies the Rev. Herbert Burk's dream from the turn of the 20th century, of a place to honor America's founders in both faith and patriotism. Burk was the founder and first rector of the parish.

"Everything you see in this chapel was made in America," Pearson said, explaining the limestone came from Indiana and much of the craftsmanship was done by American immigrants: the wood carvings by a Belgian, stained glass by an Italian, and wrought-iron detailing by a Pole.

"What you have here is sort of the embodiment of that melting pot," Pearson said. "The ideal of America, that no American is an alien. . . . A symbol of patriotic national identity."

gtoohey@phillynews.com

610-313-8210