NSCC Metal Fab Students construct new St. Mary's Church Cross

St. Mary's Cross, along with the 2nd year Metal Fabrication class of 2016.

"Every job is a test," says Gary Cameron, faculty of NSCC's Metal Fabrication Diploma. "You have to think on your feet, because no two jobs are the same." 

Never was this more true than in January, when the NSCC Metal Fabrication team was asked to construct a new cross for the rebuilt St. Mary's Polish Church in Whitney Pier. 

Gary's students are no strangers to real world projects. Every year, 18 students are accepted into the metal fabrication program, where they learn a multitude of metal techniques, from ancient welding methods to utilizing 3D software for automated plasma cutters. During their program, the students of the metal fab program build benches, sculptures, and other metal creations for NSCC and various non-profits around town, but the St. Mary's Cross was a particularly demanding request.

"There were number of challenges when it comes to the cross," notes Gary. "First, it had to be exact. Nobody wants a crooked cross." For this project, Gary chose two students to head the construction. Nick Anderson, in his second year of the metal fab program, and Graham Turner, a former Louisbourg blacksmith also in his second year of the program. 

A second, and even larger concern regarding the Cross was the fact that it would weigh over 160 lbs. and would be mounted 70 feet into the air. Even if every angle was a perfect 90 degrees, if the mounting wasn't secure, the cross would tilt, which is not what you want on top of a church.

For this reason, the construction company in charge of the St. Mary's rebuild delivered a mock steeple to NSCC for testing. The solution was to add three feet to the base of the cross, making it a total of 9 feet of stainless steel, and an octagonal base to fit atop the steeple. 

For the design of the cross, the church committee encouraged the NSCC students to create a number of prototypes to be reviewed by the committee. One would think cross design to be somewhat simple, consisting of a whole two lines, but there can be a surprising amount of creativity that can be applied to a cross. The fabricated prototype cross was built out of cheaper metal for experimentation. Below are some examples proposed to the church committee.

Cross with Clovers and Circle.

Gothic Cross with Clovers.

Hollow Circle Cross with + Signs.

Sash Cross

You can share your opinion of which design you like below. In the end, the church committee choose a simpler design, but kept the clovers. See the final product below.

NSCC Students for scale.

You might have noticed that this cross is a bit more lustrous than the prototypes above. That is due to it being constructed entirely out of stainless steel, and being polished not once, not twice, but three times with different polish grains to give the cross a mirror finish. Today, if you are in Whitney Pier at the right time, this cross can blind you with the reflection of the sun. This is something old, wooden crosses just could not do.

After the construction of the cross, one final task remained. Mounting a 160 lbs. cross on top of a church steeple 70 feet high. For this, NSCC metal fab student Nick Anderson took a bucket safety course to take him into the sky with his new, reflective creation. Inside the church, Graham Turner waited with a steel cable and a winch to tighten and straighten the cross in place. The construction workers on site tied the cross to a crane line, lifted the cross, while Nick and two construction workers mounted the cross in place. Graham then winched the base to the steeple to ensure a tight and even fit.

Gary Cameron, with his team of students and construction experts at the newly rebuilt St. Mary's Church in Whitney Pier.

Last November, when parishioners watched their 101-year old church go up in flames, no one was sure what the future held for St. Mary's Church, a venerable cornerstone of the community. Today, if you are in Whitney Pier, you can see an almost complete exterior of a newly rebuilt and renewed St. Mary's Church. This was made possible by a community coming together, through donations of time, energy, skill, and funds to raise this church from the ashes. Numerous agencies, businesses, community groups, and individuals contributed to making this a possibility, with the cross atop the steeple acting as a symbol of community pride and responsibility.

"This isn't coming down," remarks Cameron. "These students are going to be able to look at this cross for the rest of their lives knowing that they were a part of it."

The welcome sign to the NSCC Metal Fab floor.

 

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NSCC Metal Fab program giving back to the Whitney Pier community.
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Lynn Hussey Follow Me
Great to have it made locally..Good job all!

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