Helping People Come Together

The pandemic has had detrimental effects on almost all areas of daily life, but perhaps no sectors have been hit harder than religion and education, as places of worship and schools, by their very nature, are designed to bring people together.

This issue spotlights roofing projects from all around the country that are remarkably different in the problems overcome and the materials used, but they all show an industry dedicated to building and repairing structures designed bring communities together in settings meant to inspire them.

After a fire destroyed Niemonds Independent Church in Pennsylvania, Lehman Construction Services Inc. and AB Martin Roofing Supply worked with the church to design and build a new structure that would be durable, sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and cost effective. The standing seam metal roof and wall panels specified definitely fit the bill.

When the Full Gospel Slavic Church of Meridian, Idaho, needed a new roof, Diamond Roofing recommended a premium laminated shingle designed to stand up to the extreme weather in the area and complement the building’s design.

When the campus of St. Catherine of Siena in Wichita, Kansas, added a new church sanctuary and adoration chapel, Spangenberg Phillips Tice Architecture recommended synthetic slate, and Douglas Fry Roofing was tasked with seamlessly tying the new and existing structures together.

When the cedar shingles on the steeple of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Taylor Falls, Minnesota, reached the end of their service life, Central Roofing Company designed and installed a custom copper steeple.

When the historic slate roof on the Earle Abbey in Glenwood Cemetery in Homer, New York, was failing, the municipality reached out to Charles F. Evans Company, Inc. to complete the restore it using natural slate and traditional methods.

After a tornado damaged all 11 buildings on the campus of St. Mark’s School of Texas, Texas Roof Management INC moved quickly to assess the damage, fortify the damaged buildings against further rain damage, and then repair or replace 10 roofs at the school. The project was monumental, but one goal that was not lost in the restoration process was to have key buildings ready for the graduation ceremony.

Catherine Awtrey, president, CEO and owner of Texas Roof Management, and Danielle Begley, the company’s director of project management, wanted to help provide a somewhat normal end to the class of 2020’s school career. “We had a great team that was able to let those seniors — who were missing out on everything else because of COVID — at least graduate with a campus that looked like the one they had experienced prior to the tornado,” Begley said.

For Awtrey, the graduation ceremony was even more meaningful. “My late husband wanted our son to attend St. Mark’s, so when I actually got to sit in the quadrangle for our son’s graduation and look all around me at everything that this incredible company had done to bring this project to fruition, I will never be as proud of any project in my life as this because of just how all-encompassing and outstanding it truly was,” Awtrey said.

About the Author

Chris King
Chris King is the editor in chief of Roofing magazine. He has covered the construction industry for more than 20 years, previously serving as editor of Roofing Contractor, managing editor of the Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News, and associate editor of Plumbing & Mechanical. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

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