SJS News

On April 15, 2019, the world watched in horror as a fire broke out at the medieval Catholic cathedral, Notre-Dame de Paris. The cathedral had been closed ever since that devastating fire, the climax of which was the spire crashing through the centuries-old timber roof—but recently reopened its doors on December 7, 2024, following the completion of five years of restoration work.

Out of thousands of tradesmen working on the restoration, Saint James alumnus Michael Burrey ’79 was one of only nine Americans to participate in the remarkable multi-million dollar effort to restore Notre-Dame.

A resident of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Michael is an instructor for the Preservation Carpentry Program at North Bennet Street School (NBSS) in Boston, which offers training for careers in craft and trade industries. He also founded MLB Restorations in 1999, and has spent decades building, rebuilding, and restoring historic structures and buildings.

This experience made Michael uniquely qualified with the historic carpentry skills needed to help rebuild the spire atop Notre-Dame. 

The opportunity to work in France came about after working on a special project with Handshouse Studios, a nonprofit educational organization that initiates hands-on projects to explore history, understand science, and perpetuate the arts. The Notre-Dame Project was an initiative that began in 2021, when Handshouse led a team of experts and students in Washington, DC, to begin reconstructing one of the trusses that once supported the great cathedral's roof. Michael has known Handshouse co-founders, Rick and Laura Brown, for many years, and worked with their daughter and current executive director, Marie Brown, on this project. 

They constructed Truss #6 at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and then displayed the giant structure on the National Mall. 

“It was done in solidarity with the French, to basically say that there’s Americans here who can help in the effort of restoring the trusses in the spire of Notre-Dame,” Michael said.

Though the truss never made it to France, it did grab the attention of one of the principal architects responsible for restoring the roof and spire who had come to Catholic University to give a lecture. 

Through those connections, Michael and Jackson DuBois, another American who worked on the Handshouse project, were invited to go to France from May to July 2023. Michael and Jackson worked in the French Carpentry shop, Asselin, in the medieval town of Thouars, located about 215 miles southwest of Paris. 

Michael spent his days working in an old automobile plant constructing the wooden railings, dormers, trefoils and various decorative elements that would make up the new spire. Michael said he enjoyed the camaraderie of the tradesmen working on this project despite the language barrier.

“When everyone arrived in the morning, you would go around and shake everybody's hand and say, ‘Bonjour,’” he said. “What's interesting is that other groups who were out in the field would come back in the afternoon, and they would come into the shop and shake everybody's hand, too. It was a really nice connection that everyone had in that handshake.”

Michael and the team at Asselin pieced together the framework and other elements needed for the massive structure in separate sections.

“They would assemble the elements as they got done to make sure it all worked and then disassemble it and move it into Paris,” he said. “A lot of the pieces were floated down the Seine River on barges and picked up by cranes to put onto the cathedral.”

When assembled and erected on top of the cathedral, the new spire weighed more than 250 tons.

In July, before he left France, Michael had the opportunity to go to Paris and see the Notre-Dame restoration work firsthand. He said the network of scaffolding in and around the cathedral was incredible, and he got a firsthand view of one of the famous stained glass rose windows at Notre-Dame. 

“We had access to go in and go through the whole cathedral, top to bottom, go up the scaffolding,” he said. “We were in the very upper part of the cathedral where the vaults are and they had scaffolding up so they could repair them. Every once in a while, we could see through it, and we opened up this curtain, and realized we were right in the center of the rose window. It was pretty amazing to open up a curtain and see that right in front of you.”

Michael’s father was an architect, and he had some of his first experiences with construction working on the house that they lived in. At age 13, he became interested in historic work and woodworking after reading the book “American Barns and Covered Bridges.”

While at Saint James, Michael volunteered for several on-campus projects, including rebuilding the stone wall on the bend in College Road. 

“I went up to Father Owens and asked him if I could rebuild that wall between the end of classes and the start of sports,” Michael said. “He kind of looked at me, but he said okay. I remember my father and Father Owens were on Rotary together. Father Owens asked my father at the next Rotary meeting, ‘Can this kid do that?’ And my dad said yes, because I already worked on the stone wall around our house.”

By his senior year, Michael and his friend David Thomas '80 decided to ask if they could repair the Bai Yuka in lieu of participating in a sport. 

“The Bai Yuka had sprung a leak, and no one had been able to fix it,” he said. “We came up with a plan on how to repair it and asked Father Owens for permission. We had a blast. So, we did that and it still holds water.”

After Saint James, Michael earned a degree in Early American and Colonial Life at the University of Maryland. He then moved to Massachusetts and worked at Plimoth Plantation (now the Plimouth Patuxet Museum), where he served as an interpretive artisan, blending research with hands-on interpretation of colonial craftsmanship.

Michael has spent his career focusing on restoring historic buildings and designing sustainable structures rooted in traditional craftsmanship. His work on significant historic preservation projects has established him as a leader in the field. Michael was selected in 2014 to restore the Tower of London. He was involved in the reconstruction of a wooden stairway at the ancient royal palace and fortress. Several years ago, Michael also helped construct a replica of the Turtle, the world’s first submersible vessel. 

Michael is proud of his role in preserving and restoring these treasured landmarks. He has not seen Notre-Dame Cathedral since it reopened to the public in December, but he hopes to take a group of students in June.

“Having the opportunity to live and work in France will live on forever as an incredible life experience,” Michael said.