HELENA — The bells at the Cathedral of Saint Helena have been silent for nearly three months as crews work to repair masonry and tile on the north limestone spire of the historic building.
The Durable Restoration Company is nearing completion of a two-year project that has meant having to wrap the cathedral spires in scaffolding that extends around 230 feet in the air.
A team of craftsmen are working against time and the weather to complete the job by mid-October.
"Our backs are kind of up against the wall against the weather," says Chase Collins, a project manager for the company, "it's a lot of work to do to try and get this wrapped up before the winter."
The Durable Restoration Company is removing and replacing old and damaged grout, removing years of build-up from birds and pollution, and replacing lost or damaged tiles.
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The team sources reclaimed tiles and color matches the grout on the masonry to preserve the historic look of the building.
Steel beams had to be flown in and fitted below the bells housed in the north spire for the repairs this summer. Work on the south tower was completed in 2023
The team is also adding features to protect the building in the future, like drip edges on some of the stone surfaces.
"So the beads of water will now come down and hit that drip edge, drop, and continue to fall," says Collins.
Collins added that it's rewarding to work on and preserve landmarks like the cathedral that mean so much to the local community.
"We get to take these extraordinary structures, and you know, they have had some degradation through many, many years and we can kind of come in and our craftsmen can come in and start to restore that rich history of the building," says Collins
The Durable Restoration Company previously completed emergency repairs to the cathedral following damage done during the July 2017 earthquake.
