(6 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris, France – 06 December 2024
1. Various of Notre Dame Cathedral facade
2. Various of carpenter Hank Silver looking and pointing at cathedral
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Hank Silver, carpenter:
"When we arrived, on my first day, and I saw the pile of oak logs at our workshop, I started laughing with my colleagues and we just thought it was impossible. You know, we had 600 logs just for our part in the nave. And now, you know, I’ve seen those logs become this. And so walking through the forest, the medieval frame, I mean, it’s like visiting your child or an old friend, you know. It’s just got a different depth to it for me."
4. Various of Silver
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Hank Silver, carpenter:
"You know, it’s a bit like a musician playing a song from the Baroque period era or something. You know, your fingers are tracing the same patterns. We’re using the same tools, same gestures that, you know, our forebears used 800 years ago. It really is a connection with this unbroken craft lineage. And really, you know, sometimes I think of us as re-builders of the cathedral. But at the same time, the way I see it, a cathedral is a perpetual job site. And really, maybe we’re part of the same crew in a way as those guys 800 years ago. It’s just been kind of an unbroken, ongoing process."
6. Various of Silver with Cathedral in background
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Hank Silver, carpenter:
"I don’t think that it’s any secret that there will still be ongoing work here for a couple more years at least. The the roofing of the spire is still underway. They haven’t finished the lead roofing yet. They’re actually restaging that section. But I think it’s fair to say that, broadly speaking, we have saved the building. It’s open to the public. I don’t think that it’s false to say that the mission has succeeded. And they’re also taking the opportunity to redo and deal with issues that were there that have nothing to do with the fire."
8. Silver’s hands and cathedral in background
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Hank Silver, carpenter:
"And so yes, I did manage to approach President (Emmanuel) Macron and hand him a letter and say as eloquently as I was able to, Mr. President, would you please consider my request for French citizenship after I’m an American carpenter, I’ve been here for two years working on this historic monument. So, no response yet. But I don’t think it was a crazy request, honestly."
10. Various of tourists and security outside Notre Dame ahead of reopening
STORYLINE:
An American carpenter working on the restoration of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris following a devastating fire in 2019 said his task had appeared insurmountable at first.
42-year-old carpenter Hank Silver is among a small group of Americans who worked on the restoration of the cathedral.
Arriving in January 2023 at the workshop in Normandy to work on the joinery for the timber framework that would form the basis of the nave roof, Silver was astonished at the project’s ambition.
"When we arrived, on my first day, and I saw the pile of oak logs at our workshop I started laughing with my colleagues and we just thought it was impossible," Silver said.
"You know, we had 600 logs just for our part in the nave. And now, you know, I’ve seen those logs become this. And so walking through the forest, the medieval frame, I mean, It’s like visiting your child or an old friend. You know, it’s just got a different depth to it for me."
Silver spent eight months preparing the wood roofing framing at the workshop and then worked in Notre Dame itself installing it.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2b1c2627ad9c4b119efba8498c4f4563
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in December 11, 2024, 3:04 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
