The windows are boarded up or bricked over. Two decades worth of dust and grime obscures the cornice and the wooden spindles on the original staircase.
But with new laser technology, the architectural details hidden in the Mission Chapel are being revealed, catalogued, and marked for preservation, thanks to a pro-bono effort by a surveying firm to scan local historic properties.
“For historic preservation this is just great, because you can scan these things and see all the brick and mortar joints,” said Michael Feldman, president and CEO of Feldman Surveyors, a Roxbury-based firm that recently opened a second office, in Worcester. “This is the future of design.”