Toppled over by the fury of Hurricane Irene in August, today a new steeple sits on top of Rosemary Baptist Church.

“It's very exciting,” said Anna Anderson, minister of music and missions for the church on Jackson Street. “We kind of felt like something was missing.”

Following Irene.

While there are many churches without steeples, plans for the sanctuary when built called for one, Anderson said after Heaton Construction and C.D. Williams put the new one on top of the church this morning. “It makes it complete. It's just been a part of our church.”

(The complete series of photos can be found on our Facebook page)

Because the steeple torn down during Irene could not be repaired, a new one had to be made by a company in Texas, which was one of the delays after insurance had settled.

During inspections, however, it was discovered that some of the wood had rotted and that had to be repaired. Water also got on sound equipment which is stored upstairs but thus far that has not had to be replaced.

Ready for liftoff.

“We really missed it when it wasn't up there,” Anderson said of the steeple. “It didn't look right.”