The roofers are making progress on the second smaller spire.
For the past several weeks, the base of the crane has been on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance to the Cathedral. The basket at the top of the crane can pivot around so that the roofers can do most of their work without moving the crane's base.
They will have to move the crane to either side of the Cathedral to install the roof on the "back" side of the spires (as seen from Boulder Avenue).
Once the two small spires are complete, the roofers will concentrate on the tall central spire. This tower may take quite a bit of time to complete because it is so much larger than the smaller ones. The cone-shaped central tower is itself over ten stories tall.
The final stage is the installation of new roof and gutters over the sides of the Cathedral. The photo on the left shows why the roof is being replaced.
The aluminum roof was installed in 1959. Over the next five decades, the soft aluminum became brittle. Every Spring hailstorm damaged or broke the brittle shingles resulting in leaks.
The new copper shingles are much thicker than their aluminum predecessors. Copper is more resilient over a longer period of time.
The roofers tell us that the roof should protect the Cathedral for at least one hundred years. As we give to the "Building the Future" collection, we are giving a gift to our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who will worship at the Cathedral.
