Historic preservation and the cost of using “authentic” materials
“Denver’s Landmark Preservation hits 50-year mark,” March 18 news story.
Your article commemorating 50 years’ work by the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission was a welcome reminder that in these booming times, the past is important. One aspect of preservation that has become critical, however, is the ever-escalating cost of using “authentic” materials.
St. John’s Cathedral needed to replace a very expensive slate shingle roof just 10 years after installing it because of hail damage. To require owners of historic buildings, many of which are nonprofit entities, to dip into budgets for such costly repairs is actually antithetical to the spirit of preservation.
Groups that rely on fundraising simply find keeping the building so maintained will bankrupt their operations. Thus, it was an act of foresight and pragmatics that the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission approved the use of stone-coated steel on a portion of the St. John’s roof. The product is much more affordable than slate, much more hail-resistant, and looks from a distance like slate.
We’re confident this material will protect our cathedral for 50 years or more, thus allowing us to use maintenance funds on other needs for generations to come. Kudos to the folks who realize that preservation is about more than using approaches from the past.
Denver The writer is director of facilities for St. John’s Cathedral. Send letters of 150 words or fewer to openforum@denverpost.com or 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 800, Denver, CO, 80202. Please include full name, city and phone number. Contact information is for our purposes only; we will not share it with anyone else. You can reach us by telephone at 303-954-1331.