Since opening in 1938, Heinz Memorial Chapel and its spire have been an icon on campus, serving as an appropriate neo-Gothic complement to the neighboring Cathedral of Learning. Since 2023, the spire has been covered in scaffolding for necessary repairs to ensure its longevity.

After the two-year restoration project, scaffolding surrounding the spire was removed by the start of the 2025 spring semester, bringing the restoration a critical step closer to completion. With the work ranging from detailed repairs to the copper panels to mapping the spire using drones, the two-year project will be completed in the spring when weather improves.

Built between 1933 and 1938, Heinz Memorial Chapel was designed by architect Charles Klauder to accompany the Cathedral, his famous neighboring work. The chapel’s 73-foot stained glass windows, among the tallest in the world, were created by Charles Connick and depict hundreds of historical and religious figures.

Karen Sebolt, director of Heinz Chapel, said the spire restoration is necessary to maintain the building’s historical integrity. As early as 2007, the spire was fully photographed to determine its condition — it was found that parts of the 87-year-old spire were deteriorating and needed refurbishment. 

In 2023, the Durable Restoration Company began completely disassembling the spire and performing necessary repairs. Chase Collins, the project manager for the restoration, said Durable prioritized maintaining the spire’s original materials — only one of its copper panels required refabrication.

“We had to label each individual piece and then we created a map of where these pieces go with plenty of photo documentation,” Collins said. “Each piece was removed and thoroughly inspected on site to see if repairs were needed, ranging from little pinhole repairs all the way up to six by six-foot patches of soldering if there were cracks.”

Historic preservation specialists such as Durable Restoration value the repair of existing materials rather than replacing them, according to preservation director Julie Butler. 

“This was a highly preservation-focused project,” Butler said. “This made it easier to plan because the team was able to look at every single piece and make that judgment call — do we repair or do we replace?” 

Given the height and complexity of the spire, technology played a significant role in the assessment process. Working together with cultural resource specialists at WJE Associates, the project utilized drones and lift equipment to inspect the spire before work commenced. 

“We typically have an idea of what is needed, but you always have to verify in the field,” Butler said. “You write the contract with the assumption that it could be different.”

Reaching 113 feet above ground, the scaffolding for the spire presented an additional complication for the project. According to Collins, the scaffolding required crews of three to six people working on different levels, with care taken to not place workers directly above each other. 

However, Collins said one of the largest challenges in the project was dealing with the lead-coated copper cladding, which exposed workers to lead dust when it was removed. Workers wore protective gear, ventilation systems were in place and lead levels were monitored biweekly to ensure safety.

“Between pulling panels off and cleaning up, creating a bunch of lead dust is a real hazard,” Collins said. “We had to vacuum and sweep up any dust because it was shedding its original lead.”

After the lead-coated pieces were removed, they were taken off-site to Durable’s headquarters near Columbus, Ohio, where they underwent cleaning and repair before being reinstalled. 

“It’s like you’re sanding it as you get all the dust, dirt and grease off,” Collins said. “You basically get it down to a shiny copper to bring it back to life.”

Bringing the spire back to life also involved reinforcing its underlying steel structure. For several months, the spire was nothing more than its steel framework, with all decorative panels removed. 

“The underlying steel structure was sandblasted, repainted and cleaned,” Sebolt said. “Any section that needed work was repaired.”

An iconic aspect of the chapel is its grotesques — decorative features hanging off the side of the spire. Over time, two of the grotesques deteriorated and fell onto the chapel’s roof, but they were saved by staff and were often shown during tours of the building.

“[Durable] wanted those back to be able to put them back on the spire, which we understood,” Sebolt said. “One of them was too damaged to be saved, so they let us keep that, and they made a new one to go up on the spire.”

Collins described the craftsmanship undertaken by Heather and Little Limited to recreate one grotesque, which needed to be fully replaced rather than simply repaired.

“All the best parts of the remaining grotesques were combined into one mold to stamp out the new grotesque,” Collins said. “All the details — the grotesque’s mouth, ears, nose — were hand-worked on the form to create the shape, one half at a time, before they were soldered together.”

Now entering into the final stretch of the project, Collins said the final step is replacing the slate roof tiles, which will happen once the weather improves. Sebolt also mentioned two additional features soon due for installation — lightning strike protection and new lights to showcase the spire.

“We do have lightning protection on the building, but they’re going to enhance that and bring it up to code,” Sebolt said. “Technology has progressed since when the Chapel was built 87 years ago.”

Despite the extensive work, Sebolt was happy to report that the chapel remained open as normal throughout the entire project, with no disruption in event operations.

“We’ve continued with our worship services, events, concerts, lectures and tours,” Sebolt said. “I think people were worried at first about the look of the Chapel, especially taking wedding photos at the doors, but the work didn’t affect that.”

For a nearly 90-year-old icon of the University, the chapel’s restoration ensures its spire will remain a symbol for decades to come. 

“Our concern is always to keep buildings historically accurate, repairing them in the correct manner with historically appropriate materials to ensure longevity,” Butler said.