SLU steeple crashes down in high winds
SLU’s Dan Seaman helps remove debris from the fallen steeple Monday morning. Photo: Tara Freeman/SLU
Gunnison Memorial Chapel’s steeple came tumbling down around 5 am this windy morning. St. Lawrence University chief facilities officer Dan Seaman says security personnel were on site through last night. He said the steeple was swaying significantly in the wind overnight. The steeple crashed very close to the chapel building, not even blocking the sidewalk, and within the perimenter of the security fence. No one was injured.
Seaman says the steeple was further destabilized overnight because the wooden framework continued to smoulder. SLU personnel were positioned on the roof of adjacent Richardson Hall to catch and put out burning embers that were floating over from the steeple.
Burnt copper sheets continued to fall this morning. Seaman says engineers will wait for the winds to die down, then they’ll remove the remaining steeple debris with a crane, and then put a temporary roof on the building at the top of the brick tower.
Tags: canton, fire, st lawrence county, st. lawrence university
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Thank god nobody was hurt! The guy behind the guy in the hard hat seems to be standing in a dangerous spot. Are they sure that stuff is done falling?
The chapel is indeed a historic icon of the Saint Lawrence campus, and always in history, things change. This latest chapter of the history will include the story of the fire and it’s eventual repair. So a new copper steeple will be in order, and it will be interesting to see what the architects do with it…will it be an exact replica of the former? or will it be a new art piece that could last for the next two hundred years.These questions may seem simple, but can take some interesting turns, especially if this is seen as an opportunity to recognize that the early 21st century is a different time than the early 20th.