August 20, 2010

New steeple installed on St. Mary Church in New Albany

Workers from Abel Construction in Louisville connect two components of a new steeple for St. Mary Church in New Albany on July 14. (Submitted photo)

Workers from Abel Construction in Louisville connect two components of a new steeple for St. Mary Church in New Albany on July 14. (Submitted photo)

Members of St. Mary Parish in New Albany gathered on July 14 to watch the installation of a new steeple on their parish’s church.

The old steeple had been damaged on Sept. 14, 2008, when the remains of Hurricane Ike, which the day before had devastated Galveston, Texas, swept across southern Indiana.

More than a dozen workers from the Louisville-based Abel Construction worked most of the day to install the 70,000-pound structure that stands 140 feet above the ground.

The New Albany Deanery parish’s bells were reinstalled during the work done to its church. Father Henry Tully, St. Mary Parish’s pastor, blessed the bells before they were put back into the steeple.

Workers at Padgett Incorporated in New Albany and Helming Brothers in Jasper, Ind., built various parts of the steeple, most of which is clad in copper to match the look of the previous steeple. Michell Timperman Ritz Architects, based in New Albany, designed the new steeple. †

 

 

 

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