The Completed Cathedral Tower and Spire
The copper spire along with the brownstone veneer columns and finials have been up for a couple of weeks now. Jeni Rone of Sea Star Arts has photographed the completed cathedral and steeple for us.
A trip to the top of the steeple is not for the faint of heart, but those who have the opportunity to do so are rewarded with an extraordinary view of the gorgeous Charleston skyline and an up-close-and-personal look at the artistry of this magnificent spire. To see Jeni’s photo log of her trip to the top of the spire, visit this link: http://seastararts.smugmug.com/Events/St-John-The-Baptist-Steeple/11457538_t7U9P#824078003_zUhpt
All the pictures posted in this entry are copyrighted and displayed here by gracious permission from the photographer. Please contact Sea Star Arts for photo use information.
Erno Ovari, President of Copper Exclusive, assists model, Jennifer Tokarev, in a dress by Bella Vista Bridal, into the copper archway for a photo shoot.
Whew! Our copper work is done, the lift is over and now we can concentrate more on other fun stuff!
We have been very fortunate to have met some great people and to have made wonderful new friends during our time in Charleston. One such person is pro photographer, Jeni Rone, of Sea Star Arts and her friends at Steely and Kerr Photography. More to come on Jeni and her work in future posts, but for now, here is the story of the pictures in today’s gallery as told by Larry of Bella Vista Bridal on 211 King Street in Charleston. (They have a location in Columbia, too!)
“On Saturday, Jeni Rone, our good friend, photographer, and artist called to ask if we had a dress available for a photo shoot on Sunday. She let us know that St. John the Baptist Cathedral was going to be getting its new steeple after over 100 years on Monday, but before it went up they had gotten special permission to do a photo shoot using the steeple while it was still in the courtyard. We tagged along and took some pictures of the steeple and the shoot. Jeni did such a great job with this historic opportunity that I am sure her pictures will be showing up for a long time to come. Bella Vista Bridal was proud to be able to help this come together and see one of our beautiful dresses alongside this great piece of art. We also met the artisan who crafted this steeple (that’s him helping the model onto the steeple base). Keep an eye out for Jeni’s pictures at SeaStarArts.com”
Steely and Kerr Photography shot the pictures in this gallery. More photos of the Cathedral can be viewed by visiting their website: http://www.steelykerr.com/ A special thanks to Steely and Kerr for these great photos!
Please also visit Sea Star Art’s blog post about this day: http://seastarartsblog.com/2010/03/charleston-copper-princess/
The veneer columns are lifted up into the corners of the copper archway on the Cathedral tower.
Today, we lifted the ornamental stone veneer columns and finials up into the corners of the copper archway on the church tower. The church steeple will now look finished and proportional. To see the completed look with all four columns installed, be sure to check for future posts!
The copper spire is lifted to the top of the cathedral today!
Our hearts skipped a beat as the beautiful copper spire was lifted to its home at the top of the cathedral. What a sight it was to see and how incredible it made all of us feel!
At 151 feet (well, 167 including the cross) the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is now one of the tallest buildings in town! Regardless of how its height compares, it will certainly remain as one of the most iconic pieces of architecture in Charleston for hundreds and hundreds of years.
If the spire looks a bit out of proportion to the rest of the building, it is. Don’t forget that the remaining stone pieces still have to be lifted up. That’ll be tomorrow, actually! So as far as the copper work is concerned, we’re done, but the few other construction odds and ends still to do will be wrapped up shortly.
We’ll be back the first week of May with our pro photographer, phenom David Daniels, for some crazy amazing shots of the work in its resplendent completed state, so you certainly haven’t heard the last from us. Plus, we’ve got some other things we’d still like to share that should be interesting, informative and beautiful. Don’t forget, videos are coming, too! We promise! Keep your eyes out for those probably first of next week!
We are overwhelmed with the kind words of appreciation from all the people we have met throughout the course of this project. 
We know how much this restoration means to those involved in making it, to the Church members and to the community. We know much sacrifice was made and much patience was given to see this project to reality. We promise that we have put as much love into our work here as is humanly possible, and it is our honor to share it with those whose hearts are open to receive it.
This was a truly special project and we have loved building it for you.
We’re back! Our pieces have been carefully trucked in from our Goose Creek workshop to the cathedral on Broad Street in downtown Charleston.
Tomorrow is the big day! The tower lift! We still owe you all some videos from previous posts–and they’re coming, but rest assured we’re making a video of this lift, too. We’ll work hard to get all these posted ASAP.
Today we permanently affixed the copper finials to the top of the archway and refined some details on the collar of the cross.
The silver colored pieces under the finials and protruding from their tops are lightning protections. They will be grounded tomorrow after the lift. The copper cross also works as a lightning protection as its very thick inner stainless core acts as a highly effective means of diverting electricity. Beauty and brains!
The black rubber pieces in the inner corners of the archway are bumpers. The stone veneer embellishments that fit inside these corners will be lifted and installed tomorrow. The bumpers will keep the aggressive copper from direct contact with the veneer.
Check back tomorrow for lift pics! So exciting!
A few weeks ago we mentioned how, due to the climate conditions, our copper archway has been weathering and turning brown. At that time we were thinking we’d lift up the piece with nature’s enhancements, but we’ve since changed our minds once again and have decided to take the time to clean and polish so the archway will be extra be shiny for lift day. Though a little more work, this is the right decision for this important event.
Pictures to follow soon!
Like we mentioned in the last post, we’ve got just a little bit of finishing details to wrap up upon our return in a couple of weeks. But for the most part, our pieces are complete.
Video is on its way!
We’re heading back to our homes and office in Utah this evening, but we’ll be back here in a couple of weeks to finalize everything before the big, exciting lift.
Before we left, we fitted the finials to the lightning protections and finished the gilding on the collar at the base of the cross. We have pictures, but as we will be traveling, it will be a few days before we can make our next post. Also, we’ve got video in tow! Stay tuned for those as well.
We apologize in advance for the quality of these images, but just wanted you to know we’ve been on task! See you all in a couple of days!
Our gorgeous ornate, gilt copper cross was lifted by crane to be fastened to the top of the copper spire today. The cross is a creation of the artisans at Copper Exclusive. Just to remind our readers who might not have been following us in past posts, the spire is NOT our work. The amazing, archway, visible in many of the pictures in the gallery below, however, is our creation as are the copper finials which you will see attached in future posts.
We had some technical issues with a couple of machines which took time we weren’t expecting and prevented us from assembling and attaching the copper collar as we had planned to do, but we intend to finalize the remaining details tomorrow. We’ll also fit our finials to the top of the archway tomorrow. They won’t be a permanent addition until after the tower is transported and the brownstone veneer pieces have been installed, but we’ll temporarily add these ornaments to finesse the fitting details, so on installation day, everything will be a snap. And, hey, we just want to see it all put together!
We filmed the lift and install of the cross to the spire and need a few days to edit the footage, but you can expect to see some fun video posted in the next couple of days. Until then, please enjoy these pictures showing the lift and assembly.
The gilding on the copper cross is finally complete! You’ll notice a few areas around the copper collar that still have bare patches. The reason for this is, the copper collar is the transition between the base of the cross and where it attaches to the spire underneath. We still need to solder the pieces together. Soldering a pre-gilded surface is not a workable practice, so we’ll gild those spots after assembly.
Tomorrow we assemble the cross and spire and solder the as of yet ungilded regions on the collar. When that is accomplished, we’ll quickly gild those untreated areas and the whole spire will be complete.
We’re videoing the assembly, so watch out for some exciting footage. In fact, as the project nears completion, you can expect to see far grander pictures than have ever been posted thus far!
