By Rachel Morse, Staff Writer
Credit: OCU's Facebook page
A piece of the Bishop W. Angie Smith chapel has been restored.
The new spire arrived on campus Nov. 22, followed by a blessing service to commemorate the event, said Rev. Maggie Ball, vice president of university church relations. The ceremony celebrated the return of the spire before its installation the next day.
“We are restoring the building that is the spiritual heartbeat of the university,” she said.
The service began with a greeting from University Chaplain Rodney Newman, and opening words from Ball. It continued with a scripture reading, the hymn “Lift High the Cross” sang by Megan Wagner, administrative assistant for the Kramer School of Nursing, and a final blessing over the spire by attendants of the service, Ball said.
Stormy Vandeplas, religion/philosophy freshman, said having the spire returned brings an important piece back to the Wimberly school of religion and graduate theological center.
“I know that it meant a lot to finally have it rebuilt,” she said. “It’s really beautiful.”
Participants were also given the opportunity to sign a scroll, which was placed inside the hollow of the spire, Ball said. This act facilitated outside involvement and gave those attending a chance to leave their mark.
“It’s a way for all of us to say how excited we are to have it replaced,” she said.
The original spire, which was awarded best architecture at the 2007 state centennial, was blown off the chapel in 2008 by what was determined to be straight-lined winds, Ball said.
“Most of the students here have never seen it the way it’s supposed to be,” she said.
A flaw in the design of the spire was the apparent cause of the fall, said Glede Holman, director of risk management. The flaw had to do with the spire’s thickness and support.
“We took into consideration what the discovered design flaw was and engineered around that to make sure it’s not a problem,” he said.
Replacing the spire with a similar design and superior structure was the university’s goal, Holman said. They have been searching for the past two years for someone capable of completing the project.
“Trying to find someone that could, A, do the project and, B, was interested was a sincere challenge,” he said.
Gary Armbruster, architect, designed the spire, and Alaskan Copper and Brass Company created it, Holman said. After the final design was submitted, the steeple took about six weeks to be built
Since the original spire was an insurance loss, insurance covered the $175,000 repair cost, Holman said. The school still paid a $25,000 deductible allotted for insurance in the school budget.
“Insurance was interested in returning us to the state we were before,” he said.
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