D. Cap Is Now Re-Cap!
Twelve years to the day after a poor gargoyle got a very bad bump on his noggin, the creature's head has been reunited with his body.
Surely you’ve been following the story of our beloved gargoyle who lost his (her?) head during the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the D.C. region 12 years ago today, on Aug. 23, 2011.
We’re happy to report that the gargoyle — nicknamed Mr. D. Capitated — has been put back together and is once again ready to channel rain water away from the building.
Head Stone Mason Joe Alonso rigged up a design that involved three stainless steel pins and a whole bucket of super-sticky epoxy to reattach the gargoyle’s head. Joe and his crew had to work quick because the epoxy used to cement the pins in place dries in about 10 minutes, and the glue that re-attached stone on stone dries in about two hours.
On hand for the festivities: Andy Seferlis, whose father, Constantine Seferlis, carved the gargoyle back in the 1950s.
Officially, he’s known as “Bat-like,” described in the Cathedral’s “Gargoyles and Other Grostesques” guidebook as a “winged, bat-like creature with saw-toothed eyelashes, curled whiskers and extended claws.” His head hung perilously on the drain pipe for about two months after the 2011 earthquake; ever since it’s been housed in a display box, waiting for today.
D. Cap’s neighbor, “Flat-nosed Humanoid” got his wings clipped by a falling piece of limestone, and received a new hand-carved arm and other nips and tucks by stone carver Andy Uhl earlier this summer.
All of our earthquake repairs — to the tune of $38 million — will finally be complete once the remaining $14 million is raised as part of the A Cathedral for the Future fundraising campaign.
Today marks 12 years since a 5.8 #earthquake struck the East Coast & caused $38M in significant damage to @WNCathedral.But plenty of earthquake restorations have been done since. Part of that includes reattaching the head of 1 of 2 gargoyles damaged during the quake @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/da98PaP1LF
— Ayesha Khan (@AyeshaKhanNews) August 23, 2023
(photo: Colin Winterbottom)