Old St. Andrew's Catholic Church steeples funding its future

ROANOKE, Va. -

The famous steeples in Roanoke that came toppling down are now being used to help preserve the church and Roanoke Catholic School's future.

It's been less than a year since the construction at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Roanoke. Drive down Interstate 581 and the brand new steeples greet you as you enter downtown Roanoke from the North.

The new steeples are steel and should last as long as the church itself, according to a man who was able to scoop up some of the used wood from the previous steeples.

It's truly amazing what you can do with things most people would throw away. In the case of that man and the old St. Andrew's steeples, the past is being used to help preserve the future.

Waste is a word that doesn't exist in the workshop at Black Dog Salvage. With a few screws and some precision cuts, Mike Whiteside and his team can find a use for almost anything.

"We're always looking for salvage opportunities in our area because we like working here," Black Dog Salvage Co-Owner Mike Whiteside said.

Black Dog was there when the old wood steeples came down and the new steel ones went up at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Roanoke. They weren't a contractor on the project, but the undertaking was featured on an episode of the show Salvage Dawgs airing on the DIY Network. The wood was offered to Black Dog Salvage rather than sending it to a dump.

"The steeple wood was basically a throw away, we went in and cleaned up that pile of wood," Whitside said. "I didn't want to throw it away, I wanted to keep it."

In true Black Dog fashion Whiteside went to work with the reclaimed wood doing what he and his team do best, creating one of a kind treasures.

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Old St. Andrew's Catholic Church steeples funding its future