Temple Emanu-El renovations near completion.

Renovation work on any 75 year-old building can be a challenge, but when the building in question is a house of worship, and a notably large one at that, the stakes are significantly higher.

Over the last two years, a construction team from Tishman Interiors, general contractors, along with a bevy of subcontractors have been pushing forward with the renovation and restoration of the main sanctuary and Bethel Chapel at Temple Emanu-El on East 65th Street.

Eight years after first becoming involved with the temple, the largest Jewish place of worship in the world, Tishman Interiors officials say work will be completed on the multi-million sanctuary renovation in time for the high holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah this fail.

The massive project has sought to both modernize the innards of the temple and restore aging artwork, tiling, glass and woodwork to a pristine state.

"The goal was to bring the temple back to its original magnificence while at the same time upgrading the internal infrastructure, including the leaders and drains, including the fire protection for the elevators and the climate systems," said Mark Heutlinger, administrator of Temple Emanu-El.

"After 75 years of standing in New York City, the building really needed a good cleaning and now that renovation is nearing completion you can really see the difference."

Tishman Interiors project executive Ignacio Artale said his team certainly did find the a lot of dirt on the ceiling, but overall the structure was in good shape.

"The overall goal was to give the sanctuary back its original muster," said Artale, who has been involved with various Temple Emanu-El projects since 1996. "Overall, the building wasn't in terrible condition, but it really needed a thorough cleaning. All the tiling was covered in soot."

Before such detail work as cleaning tile could get underway, however, larger infrastructural projects had to be contended with. Notably, the roof leaked and an HVAC system needed to be installed to bring air conditioning to the sanctuary. Both of these projects proved difficult due to the way the air-circulation system and roof drainage system were initially constructed.

To install the HVAC, workers had to snake vents down from a small crawl space above the building's seventh floor. Fixing the roof proved even more difficult, as the leaking cast-iron leaders (drain spouts) responsible for water damage were fully encased in marble and concrete. With the temple remaining open for worships at all times during the renovation work, tearing out sections of drain spout was not an option.

"The problem with these drain spouts is you could only see the beginning of them and the end," Artale said. "The leaks were where the spouts met at a Y-angle before running down the length of the column. We couldn't see them and had limited access to them."

The solution, it turned out, would involve miniature robots and a Canadian product designed to stop roots from growing into horizontally lain pipes. In this case, the product was dropped vertically down the pipe, inflated like a balloon--or really an angioplasty--and set into place, workers sent small robots down the drain spouts to cut material out from the Y intersections, thus allowing rainwater to run from roof to ground without making a detour via the temple's ornate ceiling.

With the large projects finished, Tishman Interiors and their subcontractors moved on to scores of targeted restoration projects. Painters from EverGreene Studios repainted original designs by hand, Sachs Morgan Studios designed a new lighting scheme and artisans from Manhattan Cabinetry restored much of the wooed work.

In a project coordinated by renowned stained glass expert Aurthur Femenella, workers removed stained glass pane-by-pane from the windows of the chapel within the sanctuary, drawing and numbering an outline of each before sending the delicate glass to a specialist outside Boston for cleaning and rehab work.

Hundreds of other materials used to construct the temple had to be identified and researched so workers would know how best to remove soot and dirt without damaging the original work.

"The most challenging was the Akoustolith tile," said project manager Jana Rosalino, referring to a brand-name, sound-absorbing tile popular in the 1920s, which is also on display at the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station. "It's a clay-based cement mixed with peat moss. Baking the tiles removed the peat moss and left holes to absorb sound ... As you can imagine, the dirt managed to find its way into every hole."

Excessive use of water risked damaging the tiles, so after some experimentation, workers discovered the winning combination was seven "wishabs" an hour and lots of elbow grease. Described by the Tishman team as a fast-eroding cross between an eraser and a sponge, workers used the wishabs to scour each and every inch of tile. The temple contains 3,600 s/f of Akoustolith tile.

Tishman leaders say the construction team had not only to pay attention to the quality of their work, but the manner in which it was carried out. With the temple open during each of Tishman's 11-month construction cycles (they would move completely off site for the high holidays in early fall), there couldn't be the clowning around most typically associate with construction sites.

"The atmosphere is very un-construction like. Very quiet and respectful," said Artale. "Normally you have the radio playing and you're joking around, but we reiterated to our workers that we were in a holy place, and we were happy that all of them took that to heart."

With over 5,000 linear feet of wooden pews restored and reupholstered, work on the Temple Emanu-El's sanctuary is finally winding down, but Tishman crews won't be leaving the site, just moving outside for facade restoration and sidewalk improvements. Work will continue on the massive building for some time to come. Artale says that's fine with him.

"I've been in the business for 20 years and this has been the most interesting project I can think of," Artale said. "I've been at the temple for 12 years now and I couldn't tell you when we'll be done. We're here to help them with whatever they need."

Heutlinger said that with the two-year renovation of the sanctuary and chapel completed, his temple will be rededicated Friday, December 15, the first day of Hanukkah.

Heutlinger stresses that while he is "thrilled" with the work that has been completed on the temple over the past few years, those gathered inside are what makes the sanctuary sacred. "In the end it's not how nice the walls are or how high the ceiling is," he said. "We worship in the building, we don't worship the building itself. That said, we needed a good cleaning ... Everyone deserves at least one bath every 75 years.