A drone flies around the steeple of Kanawha United Presbyterian Church on Thursday. The church’s building and grounds committee hired an Ohio company, CIS Steeplejacks, to take inventory of needed repairs.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A small drone, less then a square yard in size, rose slowly off the ground on Virginia Street and began circling the steeple of Kanawha United Presbyterian Church shortly before noon on Thursday.
The drone, flying quietly, took photographs all around the aging steeple in an effort to analyze what repairs and updates the structure needs.
Michael Hardin traveled to Charleston from CIS Steeplejacks, the company he has operated out of Medina, Ohio, since 1992. Hardin brought the drone in his car and operated it with equipment on a small, movable table.
Drones, Hardin said, make it possible for building owners to avoid bringing in large cranes and riggings to inspect the upper floors and roofs of their buildings.
Hardin has worked to maintain and repair church steeples for more than 30 years, since he was 16.
“I never venture out of that realm. That is my forte,” Hardin said. “We do the actual construction work as well for churches. It is all about maintenance.”
A heavy 10-foot piece of metal recently fell off one side of the Kanawha United Presbyterian steeple, along with several pieces of wood, drawing attention to the need to maintain the structure in the church completed in 1885…
