This video shows details of how select parts were made on the very ornate copper steeple on the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston, SC. Copper Exclusive shows their point of view here through photos and film.
Adorable (and ultra tasty) cathedral cake served at the restoration celebration
Just before 11:15 AM on May 2nd, dressed in Sunday best, we walked toward the sound of the happily ringing bells of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist beckoning everyone to the Restoration Celebration Mass commemorating a 120 year long dream of a fully completed cathedral. Strains of Johannes Brahms’ “How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place” (Wie lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen) gloriously streamed from the magnificent organ above the entrance calling everyone’s attention to the indisputable fact that this Earthly dwelling place was indeed, lovely.
A few pews in and there was our team. Our friends. Looking sharp in suits and smart in dresses. A short while ago many of us met in dirty work clothes or with rolled up sleeves in offices…all of us problem solving and creating. And there we all were in Mass together. Some Catholic, some of other faiths and some who hadn’t attended a religious service in years. The choir was nothing short of, well, heavenly, and the message delivered by Bishop Guglielmone was meaningful and thought-provoking.
A celebration luncheon followed the service. It is humbling to meet the people who made this phenomenal building project happen and who gave us this opportunity to work together. Who knows what sacrifices each one contributed to the cause. When you build for any client, you always want to give better than your best, but for this particular group we all went the extra mile. This wasn’t paid for by a single wealthy individual or corporation. This build was paid for by those who gave up family vacations and did without all kinds of extras, big or small. This build was paid for by people who donated countless amounts of their time, their talents and their resources. And it was paid for over the course of over a century. These exceptional people could have given up after the fire and the wars and life’s challenges. They could have put up something cheap and easy. There are always choices. But their choice was to stay with the dream and save for a lasting art piece to crown their Cathedral. We will never forget that.
- Photo courtesy The Churches of Charleston Project
As we conversed with our work comrades, many behind-the-scenes stories began to emerge. There were many “a-ha” moments and we began to understand each other in a way we hadn’t fully before. But one common element was always present in every conversation. That element was the gratitude of every team member for our providential meeting. Our team just worked. There was a synergy that no one had ever previously encountered and we all wished for more opportunities to work together again and again.
Who would have suspected that Jimmy Hightower’s expertise in boat building would have led to the ingenious cold-molds integral to the tower design? It doesn’t seem now like there was ever really any other choice. Maybe there never was. The actual Cathedral building was built using old architectural methods, and the engineering problems weren’t limited solely to the building of a spire on this old-style structure. Charleston is seismically active and hurricane-prone, and the list of challenges facing the structural engineers seemed almost endless. We’ll leave off the numerous other challenges the Hightower team faced, but suffice it to say, they had the persistence, creativity and talent to effectively solve for all of them. (Jimmy drives the long way to and from work every day just to pass by the Cathedral.)
Glenn Keyes Architects are considered top of the line in their specialty of historic restorations. Rueben Solar headed much of the architectural work on the spire project. If he hadn’t decided to leave for Charleston several years ago to pursue his passion for historic architecture, what a loss that would have been! The steeple design is up for over 10 awards (at last count).
And who would have thought that somewhere out in Utah was one of the world’s top fine sheet metal craftsmen who would hold the key to effectively solving the countless copper spire related issues?
Somehow, the team came together and complemented each other, filling in the gaps. We have a new found respect for one another and sincerely hope for many more opportunities to collaborate.
A big congratulations and thank you to EVERYONE! What a story! What an outcome!
- Donation poster displayed at the restoration celebration
Please consider donating to help the congregation achieve their debt-free goal. They are almost there! Every little bit helps.
Please visit http://www.charlestoncatholiccathedral.org/ or call (843) 724-8395 for information on how you can help out.
The pictures in the following gallery are a combination of pro and very amateur. The really pretty (ok amazing) ones are likely the work of the Churches of Charleston Project. Stunning photography and a marvelous undertaking. Please visit their site! The artist donates 10% of the sales of his photos to the church. We have purchased these images for our use, but they are still under copyright, so please do not use any of these images without first asking permission. Thank you and enjoy!
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
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!
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!
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!
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!
Though the weather has been less than cooperative, we’ve been plugging away at the top of the copper archway. We’ve compiled some photos of a few of the recent details we crafted to show you what we’ve been up to.
No detail on any of our work on this structure has been missed. Few people will have the opportunity to see inside this copper spire as it will eventually live hundreds of feet in the air, so here’s your exclusive chance to peek inside the structure. What we’ve done here is install the four copper insets at the top of the arch bow. If you were to look up through these when the spire is completed, you’d see up inside the steeple extension (which we didn’t make) all the way up to our lovely gilded cross (which you’ve seen in previous posts).
We’ve compiled a few photographs detailing the progress of the build:
