VANGUARD

Vanguard was built in 1923 by the “Amazing” Vanguard Sunday school class of First Presbyterian Church, it later became Raleigh’s Salvation Army from 1955 to 1964. Vanguard later was home to Mt. Sinai Holy Church of America from 1964 to 2019. Steel Projects purchased the vacant property in 2020 and began a complete historic restoration to revive its beauty and continue to support civic uses in the neighborhood.

Over the next three years, the building underwent significant renovations, often revealing some beautiful surprises and decisions made over a century ago. Inside the sanctuary, the removal of layers of carpet and vinyl flooring gave way to original maple floors, and wallpaper to original plaster walls. Downstairs, the removal of drop ceilings and fluorescent lights revealed 10’ ceilings and 14 original windows with abundant natural light. The choir loft balcony rail and primary altar were rebuilt using harvested original materials of the building. Finally, all original trim was restored by our incredible carpenter and the transom windows were revealed and restored with reclaimed original glass wherever possible, carefully matching with new as needed.

Outside, the team carefully installed a state-of-the-art waterproofing system, unwrapped vinyl and aluminum coverings from the original, intact cornice on the annex, repaired the slate roof over the sanctuary, retained the stained-glass windows, and removed the Mt. Sinai sign to reveal the original First Vanguard sign.

In 2023, Steel Projects received two Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Community Appearance from the City of Raleigh, honoring our team’s work to preserve and activate Vanguard in downtown Raleigh. Vanguard was nominated and chosen in two categories as the commercial recipient for Rehabilitation and Historic Preservation, and also the Community Impact award that is given to “a project of any scale that enrich(es) the quality of life in Raleigh through design.”

Our plan to save Vanguard from being torn down after decades of neglect and disrepair was made possible by the years-long work and commitments of our Steel Projects team members and partners that shared our vision and put their expertise in action. We are thankful and humbled to carry a plan forward for Vanguard that would “revive its beauty and continue to support civic uses in the neighborhood”.

In 2022, we were so proud to welcome Southeast Raleigh Table and their thoughtful and inclusive community to the center of our historic and diverse neighborhood to further their impactful work, bringing this property back to life as a hub of community use.