Making Mary’s Tower safer

The landmark structure at the shrine has been damaged by the elements.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR

NORTH JACKSON — Water, wind and the wild ways of Ohio weather damaged Mary’s Tower at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon. The landmark structure at 2759 N. Lipkey Road is being restored and repaired.

“It’s 42 years of exposure to the elements,” said Monsignor Anthony Spinosa, rector at the shrine, which is part of the Maronite Catholic Church.

He said ground was broken for the tower and chapel Aug. 15, 1964, and dedicated a year later. It cost $200,000.

“The story goes that right after the bishop blessed the tower, a rainbow appeared over the structure,” Monsignor Spinosa said. The rainbow was remarkable because it a was a hot, sunny August day with no rain in sight, he added.

Mary’s Tower features an exterior spiral staircase with 64 steps that lead to a 16-foot statue of the Virgin Mary, which is carved of rose granite and weighs 7.5 tons. The statue is undamaged. The tower houses a small chapel with a marble altar.

Restoration and repair work is being done by Joe Joseph’s Arjay construction company of Youngstown and Lencyk Masonry in Boardman. Bill Kostelic of Poland, a construction analyst who also is involved in the project, said the effort was based on one factor: to make it safer.

Deterioration

The fieldstones and mortar that make up the outside of the tower were deteriorating, Kostelic said, noting some were at risk of falling down. That posed a threat to the shrine’s visitors.

The structure has 2,500 square feet of surface area and some 5,000 fieldstones. There are 7,000 feet of mortar joints in the tower. Doing a section at a time, the fieldstones were removed, put back in place and mortared. “The stones were reset and stabilized. They’ll be tooled so that water will wash off them,” Kostelic said. Then the tower will be “washed and sealed and it will bring out the color of the fieldstones,” he said.

The tower’s water damage extended to the chapel’s doors and doorway. “We want to retrofit the doors,” Kostelic said.

The restoration, which started in June, should be done in October.

Monsignor Spinosa said another issue is the deterioration of the outdoor Stations of the Cross, which depict the Passion of Jesus. The fieldstone structures holding the bronze artwork and wooden crosses also have been worn down by the weather. “We haven’t decided what to do about the stations,” Monsignor Spinosa said.

Project funding

Funds for the restoration have come from Maronite churches in the area and individuals. The Knights of Columbus at St. Maron’s Church, 1555 S. Meridian Road, Youngstown, have held various fundraisers. The shrine’s sources of income are the gift shop and Cedars Hall. The shrine will hold a rededication dinner and fundraiser Feb. 16, 2008.

“People come for all reasons to the shrine,” Monsignor Spinosa said.

“Some people just end up here and don’t know exactly why,” Monsignor Spinoza said, but he noted they’re glad they found it.

Monsignor Spinoza said that Mary’s Tower is a replica of the original Mary’s Tower in the mountains near Beirut, Lebanon.

“It was built about 1907 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception,” Monsignor Spinosa said. “The statue was built facing east but one day people woke up to find it facing west,” Monsignor Spinosa said. “There’s no explanation how this came about,” he said, as that tower and statue are three times as large as the one in North Jackson.

“People interpreted it as a sign from God that it was OK to immigrate to America and leave their homeland,” he said.

Maintained traditions

Lebanese immigrants might have left their native land, but as an ethnic group, they kept their traditions and beliefs. Monsignor Peter Eid, a former pastor at St. Maron’s, and other Maronite priests proposed a shrine, and the project was approved by the Our Lady of Lebanon Diocese based in St. Louis, Mo., which includes Maronite parishes from Ohio to California. “Father Eid got his cousin in New Castle, Pa., and brother in Akron involved,” Monsignor Spinosa said of the effort of the family of priests. St. Maron Holy Name Society became the leader of the project.