St. Michael’s lights steeple

(Plain Press, January 2008) St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 3114 Scranton Avenue, lighted its steeple for the first time on December 12th, 2007. St. Michael’s is the latest church to complete an exterior lighting project through the Cleveland Restoration Society’s (CRS) Sacred Landmarks Assistance Program.

St. Michael the Archangel was designed by Adolph Druiding and dedicated in 1892. Rising 232 feet, the main spire is an orientaion point visible for miles. “ The combination of height and blackened rubble stone made the lighting of St. Michael’s especially challenging,” said Michael Fleenor, director of preservation programs at CRS. “The solution, developed by lighting consultant David Kinkaid, was to paint the interior of the bell chamber white to reflect the light and to mount fixtures internally and externally.” CRS awarded a grant of $32,000 to the church to pay for lighting and repairs to the spire.”

Through the Reinhold W. Erickson Fund of the Cleveland Foundation, the Cleveland Restoration Society has lit fifteen sacred landmarks since 1995. “The steeples, domes, and towers of Cleveland’s sacred landmarks are beacons of hope that embody human aspiration and our ancestors’ confidence in the future,” says Kathleen H. Crowther, executive director of the Cleveland Restoration Society.

CRS has maps available for the public to take a self-guided driving tour of Cleveland’s lit steeples. Maps and other information are available at CRS headquarters, the Sarah Benedict House, 3751 Prospect Avenue. Call 426-1000 for more information or visit www.clevelandrestoration.org.

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