Spire of Hope
The Belfast skyline is constantly changing with lots of exciting new city centre developments. On Tuesday 24th April a new dimension was added - the Spire of Hope was finally erected at St Anne's Cathedral. The Cathedral area was packed with hordes of people (and the media) all anxious to see how the contemporary 40 metre stainless steel spire was going to be lifted from the cathedral car park to its final resting place on top of St Anne's Cathedral.
The spire was made in Frauenfeld, near Zurich. For the past number of months activity and preparation work have been evident in and around the Cathedral. Church of Ireland House is next door to St Anne's and some of the diocesan staff had an excellent vantage point from their office windows when the time came for the spire to be hoisted to the top of the Cathedral. It took three large cranes to carry out the task.
Additional work will be needed, both inside and outside, the Cathedral during the next few weeks before the job will be finally completed. The official opening is scheduled to take place in early September.