Finial literally puts cap on historic train station project in borough

Next phase of work to focus on interior

A small but significant piece of the puzzle to restore the historic Coraopolis Train Station is in place, allowing the project to move on to its next phase.

Workers from Miller-Thomas-Gyekis, Inc., a Pittsburghbased sheet metal firm, scrambled up five flights of scaffoldi n g amid less than ideal weather conditions in early February to position atop the train station’s tower a replica of the building’s original finial.

A finial (pronounced fin-e-al) is an ornament at the apex of a roof, pinnacle or canopy.

This one was light enough for one worker to lift, but it took several others to fasten it in place in a delicate process that at times resembled surgery more than sheet metal work.

Chris Rolinson, a board member of the Coraopolis Community Development Foundation, which is overseeing the project to restore the station built in 1895, said replacing the finial was particularly challenging.

“The original was gone, and we couldn’t find any architectural plans. All we had to go on were some old photographs,” he said.

Those photographs were enough for the workers from M-TG to create copy of the original constructed from stainless steel.

The finished product resembles a flame resting in a torch holder. In the center of the finial, an opening was created to allow a lightning arrestor, or lightning rod, to poke through.

Connecting the lightning arrestor to the finial required a second crew working from inside the station.

“The workers liked the fact they were creating something new, not like their usual work,” Mr. Rolinson said.

The second phase of the reconstruction project includes all of the interior demolition work. The