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St. Gregory's To Receive First Replacement Turret

SHAWNEE, Okla. (AP) — The turrets of Benedictine Hall will soon rise into the Oklahoma sky again at St. Gregory's University.

All four of the structure's brick turrets were lost when the area was shaken by a 5.6-magnitude earthquake on Nov. 5, 2011. One turret was toppled, and a second was so badly damaged it had to be demolished. The other two were dismantled brick-by-brick.

The reconstruction process begins on Wednesday with the southwestern turret. Each of the turrets' frames will be made of 30,000 tons of steel to help make them "earthquake proof." The frames will be lifted atop the fifth story of Benedictine Hall and will later be bricked and receive decorative molding.

Work on the southeastern turret will being on June 18. The remaining turrets will follow later in the summer.