Construction set up outside the Allen Building has been a common sight to passersby in the past few weeks.
Scaffolds were erected March 23 for workers to check the condition of the building's finials-decorative pieces placed on top of structures and frequently found in Gothic architecture.
The construction has already ended and the scaffolds are expected to be taken down April 17, said A.C. Joyner, owner of Memorial Design and Sales, a design and construction company based in Wilson, N.C. that was contracted for the job.
In January, strong winds blew one of the eight Allen Building finials off its post, said Ray Walker, staff architect for the University's facilities management department.
Joyner said the fallen finial has been replaced with an 850-pound replica.
"The finial fell due to the building aging and the mortar, over time, weakening faster than normal," Walker said.
Three additional finials were deemed to be unsafe and were thus removed and reset using stainless steel pins, Joyner said.
Professor of English Victor Strandberg, whose office on the third floor of the Allen Building overlooks the scaffold, said he did not mind the construction and the noise that accompanied it.
"There was some noise but it doesn't bother me, it is very rarely loud," Strandberg said. "It was quite a spectacle when they raised that [finial] up there."
Although some finials-such as those on the Chapel that provide weight to hold up the walls-are structurally necessary, the finials on the Allen Building serve only a decorative purpose, Walker said.
He added that there are no further plans to inspect the finials on the other buildings on Main West Quadrangle.
"It is on more of a case-by-case [basis], as we discover a problem," Walker said. "To check every one of them throughout the Gothic campus would be very unnecessary and expensive."
Because the University wanted the finials fixed quickly, costs for the construction job have not been finalized, Joyner said.
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