Contractor Spotlight: Durable Restoration’s Gold Circle Cathedral Job
Columbus-based Durable Restoration took NRCA’s 2026 Gold Circle for steep-slope workmanship on Cathedral of Saint Helena. What the award signals for independents doing hard historic roofs.
Ridge Report
3 min read
NRCA handed out its 31st annual Gold Circle Awards on Jan. 21, 2026, at the Industry Awards and Reception in Las Vegas during IRE. On Jan. 27, NRCA published the winners. In Outstanding Workmanship: Steep-slope, The Durable Restoration Company of Columbus, Ohio, was recognized for work at Cathedral of Saint Helena in Helena, Mont. Renaissance Roofing of Belvidere, Ill., shared the steep-slope category for Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Springfield, Ill. Low-slope went to KPost Company (Dallas) for the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas.
This spotlight is on Durable Restoration — and on what public sources actually say about the cathedral job. Where project detail is thin in the award write-ups, we label it.
What is firmly on the record
- Award: 2026 NRCA Gold Circle, Outstanding Workmanship: Steep-slope, announced/presented Jan. 21, 2026; NRCA press Jan. 22 and Jan. 27, 2026.
- Company: The Durable Restoration Company, Columbus, Ohio. Public company materials describe historic building restoration — steeples, domes, roofs — with roofing delivered through sister company The Durable Slate Company; both sit under The Durable Group.
- Specialty (company-stated): Historic steep-slope work including slate, clay tile, copper and other metal, wood shake, plus related masonry and steeple work. Durable Slate’s own project page for Cathedral of Saint Helena states repair of a 100+ year-old Ludowici French clay tile roof (replace broken/missing tiles, re-fasten loose tile) and replacement of the south-side copper standing-seam with 20-ounce copper, with a crane required for height.
- Local coverage: Montana outlets have described multi-phase work at the cathedral by Durable Restoration, including southern-spire work after wind-storm clay-tile displacement, Phase 2 northern-spire preservation (repointing with lime-based mortar, crack-stitching, terra-cotta tile lift-and-relay with flashing replacement), and guidance from Secretary of the Interior Standards / NPS Preservation Briefs. KXLH has reported earlier restoration phases in the roughly $4.5 million range and later tile lift-and-relay work continuing into a subsequent season — treat dollar figures and phase timing as local-news reporting, not NRCA award criteria.
- Related recognition: Durable Slate’s cathedral project page also lists a 2025 IFD (International Federation for the Roofing Trade) steep-slope award for the same site. That is separate from the 2026 NRCA Gold Circle.
What is not in the Gold Circle press
NRCA’s Jan. 22 / Jan. 27 releases name the winner, city, and project. They do not publish a full scope, crew size, contract value, or schedule for the cathedral job. We are not inventing those. If you need production metrics for a peer comparison, get them from Durable or the diocese — not from the awards blurb.
Why independents should care
Gold Circle steep-slope workmanship is NRCA’s public signal that hard historic roofs still belong to shops that can staff craft, not just storm volume. A Columbus company winning on a Montana cathedral is also a reminder that specialty steep-slope travel work remains a real lane when the skill set is scarce.
For GMs and estimators: the award does not change your local asphalt board. It does change the recruiting and BD story if you are building a slate / tile / copper bench — documentation, photo discipline, and preservation standards are what get projects like Saint Helena across the finish line and onto a national stage.
Known: Columbus shop, Helena cathedral, NRCA Gold Circle steep-slope, Jan. 21, 2026. Unknown from the award text alone: full scope, dollars, and crew count.
The Ridge Report take: use Gold Circle the way manufacturers use a national launch — proof that craft specialty still prints. Then keep your own job files as tight as Durable’s public project trail, because the next award cycle will ask for the same evidence.
Grounded in NRCA’s Jan. 22 and Jan. 27, 2026 Gold Circle releases; Durable Restoration / Durable Slate public web pages; and Montana local coverage of the Cathedral of Saint Helena restoration. Project dollars and phase details from local news are noted as such and are not part of NRCA’s published award citation.
Related: North Coast Roofing spotlight · Evaluate manufacturer certification programs.
