The Big Picture

Here is a "full" shot of the finished roof from the west.

The Roof is Done!

The roof is done. The project began in November 2007 with the removal of the aluminum shingles and wooden decking of one of the smaller spires. The roofers worked throughout 2008, rebuilding the spires from the inside out. The first copper went up in March 2008.

Today the men have removed the scaffolding and wench. They are finishing up work on some trim.

Final Trim is going up

The roofers are all wearing dark sunglasses as they install the last of the trim on the roof. The bright sun makes this week's work difficult, but the workers are happy that they will be done before the worst of the summer heat begins.

All the Copper Shingles are Installed!

Early this morning, the roofers finished screwing the last of the new copper shingles into the roof. All that remains is a little bit of trim work. The copper trim will rest against the bricks and cover the black tar paper. You can see the tar paper at the bottom of the photo.

Just about done....

Roofing the Last Bit

The roofers are beginning to strip the old shingles off the lower roof surrounding the Apse. It runs in a horseshoe shape from one transept, around the apse, and down to the other transept. That section is the last one for our roofers.

The Roof over the Apse is nearly done

The roof over the apse is nearly done. The roof surrounding the apse is waiting. The difficulty in roofing the apse is the large number of cuts that must be done on the shingles to rectangular shingles to a triangular roof.

Yes, the sun does shine...occasionally

The sun came out after a week of rain. Our roofers are moving quickly.

Cathedral featured on "Six in the Morning"

Monsignor Gier and Father La Chance spoke with The News on Six's Rich Lenz about the renovation. The feature is broadcast today on the morning show, the noon news, and the 5:00 news. If you missed it, here is a link to the video.



Watch it here.

Channel Six has done several stories about the Cathedral. Links are at the bottom of this page.

Rain slows work on Roof

This morning brought eastern Oklahoma some tremendous rain. Some towns saw three inches of rain in a very short time. Much of the Tulsa area is under a flash flood watch.

It is not wise for our roofers to work on a day like this. Despite today's rain, the roofer have done a lot of work in the past week. After removing the old aluminum, they laid a layer to black "tar paper." They have already applied new copper shingles to much of the apse roof.

Antependia

Antependia is the plural form of antependium, the formal term for what we often call "altar frontals." These beautiful frontals have been in storage for four decades. Now they are hung in the sacristies.

The antependia were made to fit the high altar at Holy Family and were used until the reforms following the Second Vatican Council. At that time, the sanctuary was expanded and the smaller altar was installed in the Cathedral. Since the new altar is significantly smaller, the Cathedral purchased new frontals to fit it.


Although these altar frontals are "on display," they are not museum pieces. They are part of the Church and are used from time to time. The red antependium features Saints Peter and Paul. It was used most recently at the 2007 ordination of two priests and eleven deacons. That ordination took place on the Vigil of Pentecost in the basketball arena at the University of Tulsa.

2007 Ordination, photo: Cathy Nelson

[As always, click on any photo to see a larger version.]