Becker’s Blog #13: Phase II Begins
The High Altar is located in the very back of the Sanctuary and contains the Tabernacle (which holds the Blessed Sacrament for Holy Communion). This is not the altar where the mass is celebrated by communicants, but the significance of the High Altar has importance in the Roman Catholic Church.
Click photo to enlargeA little knowledge of these different stone pieces may help. All the stone items in phase II are majestic in design and fabrication, but the High Altar is truly magnificent. It has it all: diamond-bookmatched Volcano onyx, carved capitals and trim, Breccia Aurora columns and a central hand-carved medallion of a pelican.
When Al and the guys opened the crates, their faces looked like kids in a candy store. They’d seen pictures and looked at shop drawings of Phase II, but seeing the actual stone and knowing they would have to handle and install stone had to be thrilling (well, maybe not thrilling ,but pretty cool).
Our guys weren’t the only people eager to see the stone, The Bishop and his staff, the architect and others were there with their cameras flashing.
I’m pretty even-tempered at work, resulitng from many years of high, lows, surprises, feasts and famines of the stone industry and construction in general. And when I see completed work such as the Cathedra or High Altar, I give credit to the installers for the part they did, but I give others equal or more credit. Sounds I think the veteran guys might agree with me, too.
Click photo to enlarge
When we see the finished product, we’re impressed with the beauty of the stone – a beauty relative to the design of the piece, the stone selected, how the veining is controlled, the accuracy of fabrication and control of joint widths. Installers control the joint widths. The architect, stone detailer and fabricator control the others.
In the case of the large stone items in Phase II, many designs were submitted three of four times to get everything perfect before fabrication could begin. Once they were fabricated they were dry-laid together at the shop to ensure all pieces fit together.
In this case the fabricator – Italmarble Pocai – also did a great job controlling the stone veining. It’s not taking anything away from the installers to see that there are many hours of blood sweat and tears in each stone.
Likewise, when I travel around our metro area and see stone jobs that look bad, I’m not quick to blame the installer. Perhaps the stone came in poorly fabricated, or the installer didn’t have the proper tools, or the shop drawings were terrible. In either case the installer is an arm of the process.