Local company helping to repair Pentagon

Andy Spearing is covered in dust from head to toe, and he doesn't even seem to notice the noise of the machines around him. He only concentrates on perfectly cutting and shaping a piece of dusty, white limestone. Although Spearing has worked at Bybee Stone Company for five years, the job he's currently working on has a little more meaning.\nThe Elletsville-based stone fabrication company is shipping out all of the limestone to repair the damages to the Pentagon from the Sept. 11 attacks.\n"For everyone, it's a job of pride," said Spearing, a Bloomington resident. "After the shocking events, it's good to be involved in getting things back to what they were before."\nWill Bybee, president of the company, said they do a lot of high-profile projects in Washington, D.C. but this job is "different because of what happened."\nThe company will send out 55 truckloads of limestone to the Pentagon, and the repairs are scheduled to be done in late April or early May. Shipments have been going out for three weeks. Each truckload of stone holds 40,000 pounds of limestone on a 40-foot trailer.\nThe company is proud to take a "positive step toward putting the building back together," Bybee said.\n"A lot of people would like to do something (for America); these guys have a chance to do something with their hands and their minds," he said of his workers.\nBybee Stone Co. already has a presence in Washington, D.C. The company previously completed work on Smithsonian museums, the Washington Cathedral and the U.S. Capitol building. \n"There are only two or three companies that could take on a big project (like this one)," Bybee said, adding that they were also in the "right place at the right time" to land the job.\nBecause of the company's past work experiences, the workers are used to doing high-profile jobs and having writers and photographers report on their work, Spearing said. \n"(Bybee) is a very good company; I think we have some of the best stone cutters and carvers in the nation," Spearing said.\nThe limestone company held a special ceremony Dec. 19 to mark the beginning of the project, said Rob Higley, a Hirons and Company media specialist. On a piece of stone, the workers etched a quote from President Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks: "Terrorists attacks can shake the foundation of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America." \nThe workers signed their names on the stone, which has been sent to the Pentagon. On its way to the Arlington, Va., location, the truck made several stops. Higley said that this was to present the stone and stir patriotism.\nSpearing said he is proud that the stone with his name on it will be shown to other Americans. \n"It's a permanent reminder of what happened," he said. \nHigley said the Pentagon repair job is receiving national press. CBS News will be in Elletsville this week compiling a story about Bybee Stone Co.\n"It's a good story and a story that needs to be told," Higley said.