Here are some links featuring the restoration of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist project in the news:

http://www.thestate.com/2009/11/17/1031566/a-century-after-construction-church.html

http://www.themiscellany.org/index.php/news/3137-lift-high-the-cross

http://www.live5news.com/Global/story.asp?S=12105396

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/mar/09/holier-skyline/

http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0310/713744.html

http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=426613

Keep your eyes open for this documentary, too.  The Cathedral restoration will be a feature of this work.

http://www.thecharlestonfilm.org/index.html

http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2009/todays-news/charleston-cathedral-to-gain.html

Historic King Street Shopping

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2007/dec/17/holy_city_gain_new_steeple25195/

http://www.designandbuildwithmetal.com/Dir/ProjectType.aspx?pid=850&sid=1380&id=5

Holier skyline:  St. John’s now 167 feet high to top of its gilded cross

By Robert Behre

Charleston’s skyline was blessed with a new landmark Monday afternoon, as a crane hoisted a new copper-clad spire onto the top of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Shortly after Bishop of Charleston Robert Guglielmone shook holy water on the 16-foot-tall cross, he recalled a recent visit to James Island…

To read the whole story, please visit: http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/mar/09/holier-skyline/

120 Years later, church gets steeple
Posted: Mar 08, 2010 4:38 PM MST Updated: Mar 08, 2010 4:39 PM MST

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – The mother Church for the Diocese of Charleston finally has its steeple. On Monday, the new steeple was raised at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Broad Street, more than 120 years after the cornerstone was laid…  For the accompanying news article, please visit: http://www.live5news.com/Global/story.asp?S=12105396

*Followers of our blog will know that there is no fiberglass in the cross.  The ornate archway or “lantern” directly below, however, consists of a fiberglass form covered in copper.  Otherwise, a fun and accurate news story.

Click here for a quick review of how the cross was constructed:  http://www.stjohnthebaptistcathedralrestoration.com/general/966/the-cross-a-masterpiece-of-disguise/

Click here to review how the fiberglass cold molds for the lantern were built:  http://www.stjohnthebaptistcathedralrestoration.com/general/336/hightower-boatworks-and-the-steeple/

Take a moment to review some of our past entries.  It’s fun to see how everything finally came together!

ALL Carolina Crane Rental lifts the spire of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The crane was the star of the show on lift day.  No doubt about it!  The leading man was crane operator, Michael Black, of ALL Carolina Crane Rental.

http://www.allcrane.com/

ALL lifted and placed our precious ornaments with surgical precision.   Every ALL crew member whether stationed above or below or somewhere in the middle ensured perfect synchronicity.  We were profoundly impressed.

ALL’s German-made cranes are state-of-the-art, and their highly skilled and experienced operators who, throughout their careers, have driven what they contend to be a spectrum of cranes, emphatically assert they will never operate anything but an ALL crane ever again.    We can see why.  We’ve come across the best machines and operators in action all over the world and we know great when we see it.  ALL’s expertise  was abundantly evident.  We are fans.

Though the glamorous and dramatic spire lift was what got the big applause, ALL has been helping us out for months now.  You’ve seen most of these pictures before, but here is a flashback from some of our favorite ALL crane moments:

More lift pictures of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist’s spire

By a stroke of luck, we were introduced to pro photographer and Charleston local, Jeni Rone, of Sea Star Arts during the last few days of our stay here.  Jeni is known for her fine art photography throughout the southeastern United States and has proven her professional mettle photographing all manner of places, events and circumstances.  Actively involved in capturing moments showcasing important proceedings in her very historic home town of Charleston, South Carolina, Jeni made no exception to exceptionally covering the pre to post details of this monumental day.

We purchased several of her photos which are featured below.  Make sure to buy some of your own, too!

http://seastararts.smugmug.com/Events/St-John-The-Baptist-Steeple/11457538_t7U9P#805911245_dwzE7

or

http://seastararts.smugmug.com/Events/Steeple-Installation/11473366_hkcrZ#807112616_Q53iE

All photos in this gallery are posted with the kind permission of the artist.  Thanks, Jeni!

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.

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!