The zinc tower is enclosed by scaffolding. Over the course of 140 years, many of the roofing sheets have been oxidized and corroded. The new Azengar plus zinc panels will be used to re-roof these two towers.
Two crosses were taken down from the church's roof in the beginning of March and sent to Belgium for restoration. After a lengthy period of time, the two 127-year-old crosses were corroded. The crosses are more than 1.8 meters wide, almost 4 meters tall, and weigh 600 kilos.
Photo courtesy of the Ho Chi Minh City Roman Catholic Archdiocese
A trailer was utilized to transport the Pierre de Massengis stones from the materials and supply storage to the building site. All the materials were imported from Europe and transported by sea and air. To avoid changing the look of the church, the needed materials had to be identical to the original materials.
Approximately 40 employees are now involved in the restoration, all of whom must go through training and tests. The majority of the employees work indoors, in the bell tower area. To keep on schedule, they often have to work more than 8 hours a day, occasionally longer.
The stones are tied together to be brought up to the two towers by machine. The church must photograph the work each day so that specialists in Belgium can evaluate the renovation.
Exterior walls that have been damaged or defaced will be rebuilt or cleaned. Hundreds of thousands of bricks must be changed, which will take a long time and cost a lot of money. The church will urge the city to install an open fence along its side in order to protect the site from vandalism.
After an inspection, the construction team determined that the church's foundation and structure were still in good condition, allowing for continued use of the interior space for religious activities.
According to Father Ho Van Xuan (pictured), a new ventilation system will be installed inside the church to make it more pleasant for parishioners to attend Mass throughout the summer.
After renovation, the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon will stand for at least another 100 years. The church, like many others in Europe, will form a maintenance crew to do repairs when necessary.
