A petition to remove the Steeples from Sweetest Heart of Mary Church

[Richard]

Speaking of structure .... how are these built? Inner stairwells of some kind to get to the top?

Most steeples themselves are just reinforced tapered timber framing,with all of the cross bracing,the ones I have seen you really do not have much room to crawl up them.

There should be a vent at the very top to allow airflow to pull moisture and heat build up out but if they were installed they are forgotten about maintance wise.

I did a smaller version years ago where the scaffolding rental cost would have been $50,000 so we used a heavy lift helicopter after detaching the base,it became a high adrenaline day.But it was safer and faster rebuilding it on the ground.

That church off set the costs by letting a cell company put an attenna inside,they paid some of the costs and a yearly fee.

With the churches with bell tower steeples,they thought the sound would carry further if they removed the louvers that deflected water and found out what a bad idea that was years down the road.

They have stone steeples in Europe that are massive,they recently finished one that was 1.3 million to disassemble and rebuild but that was a 1600s church.

[Gistok]

The inside of the spire of Ulm Minster [[Germany)... at 530 ft. tallest church tower in the world. The outer spire is attached to the central stone staircase [[stairs only wide enough for 1 person at a time to climb) via flying buttresses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulm_Minster

[Richard]

Ones first day on the job as a maintenance person... Hey,climb up there and change that light bulb at the top.

Instersting that church was Catholic then Lutheran.

Knights Templar built some nice churches,maybe we can bring them back to help.Their fortress walls are still standing in Syria.

[archfan]

This 2013 article says that the spires have needed work for a while. Also, they had a good photo showing how complex the SHM spires are - patterned slate tiles and a lantern[[?) halfway up.

According to an August engineering report on the parish’s website, Sweetest Heart’s steeples were also damaged in a windstorm — in 1899. In the 114 years since, various “haphazard” reinforcements have been done, but haven’t prevented the spires from “slowly collapsing onto themselves.” According to the report, Sweetest Heart’s spires also “need to be reinforced immediately and then restored or taken down and completely rebuilt” because of rotting to the floor structure and deteriorating roofing.

[Meddle]

Quick and incomplete. Changes the character a bit, but if it's a safety issue ....

[Honky Tonk]

It boils down to this, you want steeples, put your money where your mouth is, don't want to donate, picture # 2. The cavalry isn't going to ride in with new steeples.

[Gsgeorge]

It boils down to this, you want steeples, put your money where your mouth is, don't want to donate, picture # 2. The cavalry isn't going to ride in with new steeples.

Ok, so where is the Go Fund Me / Kickstarter? I haven't seen any concerted effort on the part of the parish to raise funds for this church. They seem to be just coming up with any and every reason to bring them down, but not presenting too many options to save them. They need $1.2 million, ask! I don't practice any religion, nor am I a parishoner, but I would gladly donate to save them. St. Josaphat, a stone's throw across I-75, successfully raised money for stabilization and restoration. After the initial storm, there was almost 100% certainty that the steeple would have to go.

[248lurker]

I realize this is a repair and and not a typical building project [[e.g., build a school, new church, parish center, etc.) but I understand most dioceses require that the parish have 50% of the proposed expenditures cash in hand before beginning work. I understand from a local Priest that our [[not Detroit's) diocese requires 50% cash in hand and 10 years to pay off the debt to the diocese for borrowing money from the diocese for building projects.

Right after 9-11, the rules changed and parishes in the AOD need 100% of the money in advance for most, if not all, projects. Loans appear to be harder to get now, except possibly for emergency needs or repairs.

[emu steve]

Right after 9-11, the rules changed and parishes in the AOD need 100% of the money in advance for most, if not all, projects. Loans appear to be harder to get now, except possibly for emergency needs or repairs.

Thanks and yikes.

I believe most Catholic parishes are encouraged to have 3 month operating reserves plus capital reserves for big ticket items like roof, parking lots, HVAC, etc.

But how many parishes in Detroit have big reserves?

[Honky Tonk]

Ok, so where is the Go Fund Me / Kickstarter? I haven't seen any concerted effort on the part of the parish to raise funds for this church. They seem to be just coming up with any and every reason to bring them down, but not presenting too many options to save them. They need $1.2 million, ask! I don't practice any religion, nor am I a parishoner, but I would gladly donate to save them. St. Josaphat, a stone's throw across I-75, successfully raised money for stabilization and restoration. After the initial storm, there was almost 100% certainty that the steeple would have to go.

Hi Gsgeorge, go back to post # 45, there's a link.

[kathy2trips]

I attend church a lot more now than when I was in my 20s. Saturday night partying was just too compelling. Of course, they didn't have Saturday night Mass back then, either.

BTW: I should think the Greek community would be on top of this. After all, this is their baby. If this was San Francesco or St. Florian's , I'd be loud and proud.

[hybridy]

I still find it extremely galling that Dolan was rewarded with a cardinalship, the diocese of New York, and a leadership position in the American church for finagling his previous diocese into bankruptcy to prevent recompence to the victims of the systematic sexual assaulting of powerless deaf kids by church-protected priests. As beautiful as Sweetest Heart of Mary and many other churches are, frankly I think it would be a service to humankind if every edifice of this massively corrupt, exploitive, and uncaring institution were to crumble to the earth as soon as possible.

Thank you Al. We were victims of Dolans 'patronadge'. I have 4 brothers and a very religious mother who made sure we all were altar boys from 6-16. Fr so-&-so would come to our house after mass for Sunday brunch all in white in his Lexus none the less. All of the 5 childhood priests we had a kids were defrocked in the peophile scandal and my rural childhood parish merged with 2 others and then closed. All churches + rectories were renovated + updated via the not rich but faithful small town congregations. They now travel 20+ minutes to larger new churches in neighboring cities. I'm not too faithful these days.

[emu steve]

Thank you Al. We were victims of Dolans 'patronadge'. I have 4 brothers and a very religious mother who made sure we all were altar boys from 6-16. Fr so-&-so would come to our house after mass for Sunday brunch all in white in his Lexus none the less. All of the 5 childhood priests we had a kids were defrocked in the peophile scandal and my rural childhood parish merged with 2 others and then closed. All churches + rectories were renovated + updated via the not rich but faithful small town congregations. They now travel 20+ minutes to larger new churches in neighboring cities. I'm not too faithful these days.

Sad story.

The Catholic Church's big sin, and it was predictable, to those who understand the culture and philosophy of the church esp of decades ago, namely, the highest priority is protecting the INSTITUTION of the Catholic Church, not individuals, not victims, etc.

So if there was scandal, cover it up to protect the institution.

Fight to protect the church's assets in court cases, etc.

BTW, Dolan was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict and was a Benedict-type selection. Pope Francis named Detroit native, Tobin, to be Cardinal of Newark.

I believe Tobin counter-balances Dolan in the NYC area.

Cardinal Wuerl [[Washington, D.C.) is approaching age 77. I wonder if Pope Francis would consider moving Tobin to D.C. when Wuerl retires?

Cardinal Wuerl predecessor, Cardinal McCarrick, came from Newark.

[jcole]

I attend church a lot more now than when I was in my 20s. Saturday night partying was just too compelling. Of course, they didn't have Saturday night Mass back then, either.

BTW: I should think the Greek community would be on top of this. After all, this is their baby. If this was San Francesco or St. Florian's , I'd be loud and proud.

Sweetest Heart is a Polish Parish; always has been.

[mkd]

^and Greeks are predominantly Orthodox Christians, not Catholic.

[Honky Tonk]

^and Greeks are predominantly Orthodox Christians, not Catholic.

That would mean Catholics are unorthodox.