After all those years, and sustaining a 1908 fire from a lightning strike, restoration is needed.
The steeple is currently leaning 22 inches, and stabilization and other repairs like masonry work and painting are needed.
Rev. Timothy Safford, the rector of the church, took KYW Newsradio up the steeple by climbing rickety old ladders almost to the top.
We get rare access to climb up inside the steeple of @ChristChurchPHL . Restoration work is needed. The steeple is leaning. Plans for a crowd sourcing campaign is underway. Take the tour with us. WATCH @CBSPhilly #CBS3 at 6pm. Listen to @KYWNewsradio tonight & tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/t2ibW9Y9wJ
— John McDevitt (@JM1060)
April 3, 2019 "You'll see this steel structure up in here, and then what we are going to do in this next project is insert vertical steel beams into this upper steel structure and run it up through the open part of the steeple," he said.
Just about everywhere you look, names of workers and dates are marked into beams from their trips up the steeple through the years.
The restoration project will cost $3.1 million. The National Endowment for the Humanities took the latest bite out of that figure with a $500,000 grant. About $605,000 is still needed.
Work is expected to start in June.
