The new Cathedral continues to take shape. The most recent milestone to be achieved was completing all the waterproofing for roofs (including the main dome and the Ieron half dome). So if you’ve joined the construction team in praying for just enough clear weather to get that phase finished, we can all go back to praying for rain to end California’s drought.
With the roofs all waterproofed, the next phase of construction was window installation, which began in mid-February. All the remaining 128 windows were delivered and watertightness testing of a sample installation was conducted. To date, all the main dome and Ieron dome windows have been installed. the rest of the windows throughout the Cathedral should be installed by mid- April. All the dome windows and selected other windows in the “worst case for weather” wall loations will be tested to ensure they are watertight.
Just before final dome roof design started, a local metal roof fabricator who had taken an enthusiastic interest in the new Cathedral his company’s services to provide solid copper dome roofs for the Cathedral at a very favorable cost (God always provides, although sometimes His timetable cuts it closer than our human comfort zones). The original design called for color-coated aluminum, a standard commercial metal roofing, to be provided by an out-of-state metal roofing company. Copper roofs are considered a “lifetime” roof, while color coated metal can begin to fade and peel as it weathers. The local firm is very experienced in this kind of work and has provided copper roofs and other significant metal architectural details throughout the new construction in San Francisco, including several new signature high-end residential buildings. The copper roofs will be installed with no finish so that they can patina naturally over the first several years they’re up. The domes were measured in mid-February, and fabrication is underway. Dome roof installation should be completed by the end of April. Together with the brightly finished bronze cross atop the main dome, the new Cathedral will provide a very visible new landmark to the San Francisco skyline.
Once the windows have all been installed, the next step is preparation for the stucco that will finish the outer walls of the Cathedral. The exact timetable for the stuccoing will depend on completion of window installation and testing, and the mobilization schedule of the stucco contractor. Once the stucco is finished, the clay tiles will be installed on the flat roofs. Certainly, by mid-summer, the Cathedral will begin to assume its final outward appearance.
HNA wishes Father Stephen Kyriacou and his team all the best in their endeavours!
For more information, please visit the Annunciation Cathedral’s website: annunciation.org
