St. Luke’s Church of Smithfield, Virginia, dates back to 1632. As the oldest surviving Gothic building in the United States, St. Luke’s Church is a historical landmark that is very significant to the Smithfield community and surrounding area. Despite being carefully preserved by a dedicated group of volunteers, St. Luke’s is cracking and settling.

Like many historic buildings, St. Luke’s lacks any real structural documentation, so how much damage the building is incurring over time is largely unknown. Furthermore, if the church incurred any significant damage from natural disaster, it would be very difficult to restore this important historical landmark.

St. Luke’s Church; however, has a special benefactor. New River Kinematics’ sales engineer, Will Austin, is a Smithfield native with close ties to the church; in fact, his parents were married there in 1975, and he has family on the board of Historic St. Luke’s Restoration Inc.

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