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Clark Construction's lift and installation of the $10 million recreated steeple at the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., concluded a multifaceted effort to restore the church to its original splendor.
The steeple, which had adorned the church since it was built in 1865, was damaged by a tornado in 1913 and further crippled by lightning in 1949. Once a symbol of hope and strength atop what was once one of the tallest structures in D.C., the steeple and its church - along with the Penn Quarter neighborhood - began to slowly deteriorate.
The church remained, however, as a refuge for the homeless and a growing immigrant population. As the neighborhood began to re-emerge, the church's congregation felt that bringing the structure back to its original grandeur would help position the institution again as a thriving spiritual center.
The spire was recreated through a painstaking computer-aided design process using a historic 1865 photo of the church as a guide. Historic preservation architects Quinn Evans Architects of Washington, D.C., digitally enhanced the image and divided it into 15 sections that were printed full size.
Designers posted the replications on their office walls and traced them by hand. The designs were transferred into an electronic form and sent to steeple fabricator Unlimited Designs in Salt Lake City.
Made from structural aluminum, the steeple will resist corrosion and will last for decades. The size and strength of the structure was calculated to withstand the most severe windstorm that could occur in the area.
Built indoors, the steeple was so large that workers had to disassemble a portion of the warehouse to create a hole large enough for the steeple to be removed and loaded onto the transport trailer. The steeple was driven on a 2,000-mi. trek through 11 states on an 85-ft.-long flatbed truck to its destination.
Using a 180-ft.-tall construction crane, engineers hoisted the replica steeple, weighing 5.5 tons, onto the restored 40-ft.-high clock tower and belfry section, which was topped by a 33-in.-thick slab of reinforced concrete.
The lift and installation required astute wind monitoring and precision placement by the crane operator to avoid the scaffolding erected at the base of the clock tower.
In addition to the steeple, the construction team installed four finials - each weighing 2 tons - and three clock faces.
Key Players:
Owner: Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.
General Contractor: Clark Construction Group, Bethesda, Md.
Historic Preservation Architect: Quinn Evans | Architects, Washington, D.C.
Steeple Installer: Unlimited Designs, Salt Lake City, Utah
The remainder of the Best of 2005 Profiles will be coming soon. Stay Tuned! (1/5/06)
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