Heinz Chapel Fleche

When it was completed in 1936, an article in the journal American Artisan declared the fleche of the Heinz Memorial Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh to be "the most imposing and largest fleche erected in this country in the past two years." Over 70 years after its construction, the fleche is still an imposing structure but is also showing signs of its age.  This has prompted the University of Pittsburgh to undertake an assessment of the fleche as part of a more comprehensive repair and restoration plan for the chapel. Working with the University of Pittsburgh, Landmarks Design Associates Architects and Brace Engineering, VA technicians inspected and documented the condition of the fleche in early May. This work included survey and documentation of all areas of the exterior sheet metal cladding, inspection of the accessible levels of the interior structural steel framing and live-feed video of representative areas of the interior and exterior.

Heinz Memorial Chapel was constructed between 1933 and 1938 as a posthumous gift from Henry John Heinz to the University of Pittsburgh in memory of his mother, Anna Margaretta Heinz. The Chapel was designed by the Philadelphia architect Charles Klauder in a neo-Gothic style that emulates the 13^th century high Gothic Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, France. Klauder, as part of the firm Day and Klauder from 1913 to 1927 and later under his own name, designed numerous collegiate buildings almost exclusively in the neo-Gothic style. Facing the Cathedral of Learning at the center of the University of Pittsburgh campus, the Heinz Memorial Chapel is a landmark and centerpiece of the University and neighborhood.

At the crossing of the chapel, rising from the transept roof, is a 113-foot tall fleche. At the interior of the Heinz Memorial Chapel Fleche, the structural frame rises from the transept attic to the top of the fleche spire. The frame consists primarily of painted angles with tie rods used as bracing. The fleche is clad in lead-coated copper, fastened to the steel armature with machine screws and rivets. Architecturally, the Heinz Chapel fleche has eight facets and consists of a base surmounted by a spire. The base of the fleche has several distinct vertical components. There are openings at each facet on two levels, projecting grotesques encircling the fleche at the ribs and decorative finials, tracery and stamped panels. Set back slightly from the base is the crocketted spire with solid panels consisting of a quartrafoil pattern inscribed within a diamond.

The sheet metal, manufactured by Overly Manufacturing Company of Greensburg, Pennsylvania and stamped by Miller and Doing in Brooklyn, NY, is reported to be "32-ounce lead coated copper with a 25-pound lead coating on each side."[1] There are several types of sheet metal pieces, including stamped sections and bent sheet metal pieces. In general, the sheet metal pieces are installed over an armature to which they are fastened using machine screws and rivets. Solder is used to fasten together pieces of decorative sheet metal ornament including the crockets and grotesques and is also used to seal skyward-facing seams.

To safely access the spire for the inspection of the fleche above the highest openings at the base, it was necessary to create access holes for deployment of working and fall protection lines. VA cut 2" diameter access holes through the sheet copper cladding at the east and west facets using a hole saw. The density of the structural steel within the spire limited how high a person working inside could climb to drill the holes. Working and fall protection lines anchored to structural steel within the spire were fed through the access holes on the east and west facets. Using these ropes and working on belay, two VA technicians then installed intermediate anchors by lead climbing to a point approximately 2/3 the way to the top of the spire. A pair of working and fall protection lines was then installed at the east facet from the highest set of anchors and another pair installed at the west facet from a high anchor. At the completion of the survey, pre-fabricated copper cowls were attached to the exterior of the spire as a means of waterproofing the access holes.

Climbing the spire of the fleche, VA technicians were able to get to locations on the exterior that have probably not been seen up-close since the time of its construction. From the inspection, VA noted that overall the fleche retains a great deal of its historic integrity at the spire as well as the lower portions of the structure. It is hoped, that the restoration of the fleche will add at least another 70 years to its life.