Reroofing the Pentagon—Part Two

The roofing industry has taken the adage "many hands make light work" and made it its mantra. For the past several months, hundreds of donors and volunteers have given time, money and materials to help reconstruct the Pentagon's roof system. Professional Roofing has published articles addressing what has been donated and by whom; it also has asked the volunteers and donors what they think about the project and why they became involved. Following are some of their stories.

The Francises

John and Kimberly Francis, owners of Northern Virginia Roofing, Falls Church, Va., first approached NRCA with the idea for rebuilding the Pentagon's roof system. Although the Francises operate a small roofing contracting company, they figured with a little help from everyone in the industry, the job would get done.

"The disaster made us realize how proud we are to be Americans and how blessed we are to live in the greatest country in the world," John says. "It [would be] awesome to see Americans of all races and creeds unite in one common goal to stand firm and fast in the fight against terrorism."

But getting to the point where roofing work could begin was not easy.

"I think the most challenging part of the job was in the beginning—trying to convince everyone at the Pentagon that the roofing industry could pull this off," John says.

Becoming involved with the efforts to reroof the Pentagon also had personal meaning for the couple. Their friend's mother-in-law Barbara Olson (commentator for CNN and wife of U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson) was on the airplane that crashed into the Pentagon.

John says: "A year from now, we will feel prouder than ever knowing we were involved in helping rebuild the Pentagon—a monument to freedom."

W.R. Grace & Co.

W.R. Grace & Co., Cambridge, Mass., provided about 40,000 square feet (3600 m²) of its Ice and Water Shield to the Pentagon project. As one of the project's largest donors, the company's employees and leadership are honored to be part of the project.

Robert Sorrentino, the company's vice president and general manager of specialty building materials, shares his thoughts: "Anything that we as an industry can do to help reopen the Pentagon by September will go a long way toward healing the wounds. Clearly, we can only replace the building and not those who lost their lives, but I can think of no better memorial than putting the U.S. Department of Defense's headquarters back in business less than one year after the attack."

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, affected Sorrentino personally, as well.

"I learned, after W.R. Grace made its contribution, that a college classmate of mine who had made the military his career was killed that day," Sorrentino says. "In addition, my daughter works in lower Manhattan and used the World Trade Center station every day on her commute to and from New Jersey. She shopped in the building's arcades. Luckily, she went to work early that morning. These experiences made the decision to participate in the project even easier."

James Myers Co. Inc.

As the lead roofing contracting company on the project, James Myers Co. Inc., Beltsville, Md., sent several employees to the job site. Some James Myers' employees discussed their involvement with NRCA, and they have unique perspectives to share.

"When the plane hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, about 60,000 square feet [5400 m²] of roof area was burned—not counting the structural damage. That translates to about 500 tons [454 Mg] of materials," says Richard Myers, project manager for James Myers. "You can imagine the challenge in getting the burnt materials off the roof and new materials up."

The reroofing project, which began in late October 2001, is scheduled to be completed by late summer. According to Myers, the project's goal is to be completed by Sept. 11. As a result, roofing workers are working extra hours during the week and weekends.

Thomas Shaffer, a James Myers foreman, says the work was difficult from the beginning because crew members had a hard time determining where the roof system began and ended—so much had been destroyed in the fire.

"You have mixed emotions [at the job site]," Shaffer says. "You want to be extremely patriotic, and you have a job to do. You can't let the emotions you have with regard to what happened interfere."

Similar to the Francises and Sorrentino, Shaffer also was touched personally by the tragedy.

"I knew two people who perished that day who cannot be here, but I guess they are somehow here in spirit," he says.

Other thoughts

There are many more people and companies involved in the NRCA Pentagon Project, including The Home Depot,® Atlanta, which donated all the lumber for the sheathing—about $100,000 worth.

In addition, Evergreen Slate Co., LLC, Granville, N.Y., donated slate, and Swan Secure Products Inc., Baltimore, donated nearly 2,100 pounds (945 kg) of stainless-steel and copper roofing nails.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), ranking minority member of the House Small Business Committee, sums up what many in the industry have been thinking: "This is what America is all about. Rebuilding the Pentagon not only helps make the Pentagon whole again, but it also gives small businesses—hard hit by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks—work and purpose. This is part of our national healing process, and people throughout the country should know about the extraordinary effort now being undertaken by America's small businesses."

Ambika Puniani is editor of Professional Roofing magazine and NRCA's director of communications.