Vince Hannemann has been building the Cathedral of Junk for over 20 years, and now his structure is in danger.

Towering 33 feet above a quiet South Austin neighborhood off St. Elmo Street, the Cathedral attracts admiration and visitors from around the world. It is featured on RoadsideAmerica.com and in several guidebooks. The intricate structure is pieced together from scrap metal, concrete, ironing boards, shopping carts, glass bottles, crutches and other found or donated objects.

“I didn’t know it was going to get this big,” he said. “Who could anticipate this? This wasn’t my grand plan.”

Code enforcement officials are asking Hannemann to get a certificate of occupancy and a building permit for an auxiliary structure or face demolition. Hannemann and an army of volunteers dismantled the part of the cathedral that was next to the fence and removed nearly 1,800 pounds of scrap metal.

“A lot of people laugh, like, certificate of occupancy, what does that mean?” Hannemann said.

Because no one lives in the Cathedral, “occupancy” seems erroneous, but it’s the same story with elevators. Each elevator has an occupancy rating, which is the number of people it can safely hold.

Hannemann also said that although some of the city’s problems with the cathedral are “legitimate beefs,” the fact that “the very same code enforcement people” didn’t have any objections six months ago is bothersome.

Ronald Potts, an assistant division manager for the city’s code compliance department, has compared the cathedral to the Aggie bonfire.

“If it’s not built by an engineer, bad things can happen,” Potts said.

Bob Ratliff, a cathedral supporter and volunteer, disagreed.

“[The cathedral] is sound, sturdy, and amazingly well puzzled together. If a tornado came through South Austin, the only thing left would be the Cathedral of Junk. “

Gwendolyn Norton, another volunteer, said she’d “like to see [the code enforcers] try [to demolish the cathedral,” as the structure consists mostly of steel and concrete.

The efforts to save the cathedral are being led by Elizabeth Lay, who was directing a play set at the cathedral when the troubles with code enforcement began. Lay and the rest of the cast and crew immediately refocused their efforts to raise awareness about the problem and save the cathedral.

Lay is the creator of the Save The Cathedral Of Junk group on Facebook, which has over 7, 000 members. Lay also created the Web site and blog savethejunk.org.

Lay and the rest of the thespians-turned-crusaders organized Junk Fest, a fund raiser at Spiderhouse cafe on March 28. They raised $1,200 and plenty of awareness and enthusiasm. The money will go toward permits, professional fees for engineers, architects, surveyors and any other costs incurred while getting the cathedral approved.

The cathedral also has friends working for the city—the mayor’s office and the city council in particular.

“It’s not just about keeping Austin weird. It’s a growth issue. How do we maintain the real character we have and what people love about this city as we grow and mature into a bigger city?” said Austin Council Member Laura Morrison.

Regardless of whether the Cathedral of Junk survives this ordeal, Hannemann will not give up his junk hobby.

“I think we can get something done [with junk] out in the country with a bunch of volunteers … it wouldn’t just be a one-man project, it would be something bigger and better,” Hannemann said.

 

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