Workers replacing damaged copper leaves on Academic Hall dome

Scaffolding surrounds the copper dome of Academic Hall at Southeast Missouri State University on Wednesday. Repairs are being done because of ice damage from winter 2009. Many of the 80 copper oak leaves around the dome perimeter will be replaced. They were either broken or bent from melting ice that slid down the dome. Kiefner Bros. Inc. is the contractor for the project, which is scheduled to be completed in October. The work will require various entrances to be closed at times for safety reasons, and they will be marked with red tape and barricades. Similar work on the dome was done in 1990. The copper sheets on the dome were replaced in 1972. Academic Hall was completed in 1906 and cost just under $200,000.