As you first walk into the body of St. Augustine Catholic Church, you are struck by what seems like miles of scaffolding.

Vaulting some 40 feet into the air, the network of metal crossbars, flooring and stairs hold aloft painters and artists who are helping to renovate the 1896 church.

The church – specifically, the chancel, sanctuary and nave — was cleared of all its contents after Easter services in April. Services are now being held at St. Edward’s church until the $1.2 million in renovation work at St. Augustine is completed, said Father James Steffes.

The work is expected to be done in late September. The restoration includes a full repainting of walls and ceiling, restoration of windows, a re-staining of the altars and new flooring.

While the scaffolding hides most of the painting being done in the farthermost heights of the church — the high windows, surrounded by ribbing, and eventually, the middle ceiling — you can peer through the scaffolding to catch glimpses of new color, being applied by a painter, around the windows. There were three painters and two artists at work on Wednesday.

“They have been doing a great job,” said Steffes, who added he checks the progress “several times a day. “Except for a few small glitches, things have gone really well.”

Artists from Affiliated Artists, based in Milwaukee, Wis., and Riehle Decorating, Inc., of Cresco, Iowa, have partnered on the large project, to paint and do decorative work, said artist Dave Strickland.

Strickland sits in an office just off the chancel, where he draws and creates stencils that will eventually be used as guides for painting accents and decorative figures and shapes throughout the church and around its stained glass windows.

“I think people are really going to be impressed by the gold” that will accent much of the decorative work, Strickland said.

Some decisions are made only after trial and error. Sometimes, the combination of colors, or the design itself, just doesn’t pass muster. Then it is painted over and another combination is tried.

Steffes said he was impressed by the talents of the artists. He said when Strickland tried out some colors on one of the capitals — a decorative section near the top of a pillar — he was astounded.

“It looked stupendous; it made everything around it look different,” he said.

Steffes says he has cautioned some who step in to check the progress, reminding them that what they see in some examples  painted on walls are most likely not the end result. All “try-outs” will be painted over and then reapplied — and the new work may be far different.

One renovation will be noticeably impressive — the new, blue ceiling of the church that will have gold stars painted within its environs.

Several attempts at mixing just the right shade of paint were made before the right one was finally hit upon, said Steffes.

Still, a name for the color has yet to be found.

Steffes has his own, however.

“How about ‘heavenly blue?’ ‘Celestial blue?’” he said with a grin. “I like them both.”