Parishioners take preview tour of Cathedral under restoration, renewal

Father Peter Harman, Cathedral pastor, points out a feature to Sue Billington in an artist’s rendering of what the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception sanctuary will look like upon completion of the restoration work. Cathedral parishioners were given the opportunity to tour their parish church on March 8.A little over five months after their parish church closed for major restoration and renewal, parishioners were offered an opportunity to go back inside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield on March 8, to see first-hand the progress of restoration.

Some 200 parishioners toured the Cathedral, led by their pastor, Father Peter Harman.

“This is probably the last time you will use this iron stairway,” Father Harman said, as a group made its way up the stairs at the back entrance on the north side of the cathedral. A matching stairway on the cathedral’s south side was removed early in the construction work, when the convent was raised. “When you enter the Cathedral the next time, you’ll probably do so by way of its atrium,” which will be built on the cathedral’s south side.

Inside, signs of painstaking work are everywhere. Pillars on either side of the nave are covered in plastic, after being cleaned and painted. They will be buffed and polished later. Floor to near-ceiling scaffolding covers much of the nave, with a temporary floor constructed at the top of the scaffolding just four feet from the coffered ceiling. Painters use office chairs, to move about and do their work, which includes adding gold leaf to plaster designs. Some sections of the scaffolding were removed, so people on the ground could get a glimpse of the finished product.

Workers cleaned, painted and added decorative plaster designs to the coffered ceiling in the cathedral, and then applied gold leaf to the designs.“Absolutely beautiful,” said Helen Dulle, who was on the tour with her husband, Herb.  “I thought it would be beautiful,” said Herb. “It is more wonderful than I even imagined.”

Father Harman used a laser to point out features in the coffered ceiling. “Some of the coffers will have lights imbedded in their flower designs,” he said. The cathedral’s large ornate brass chandeliers have been sent away to be cleaned and refurbished. Additional halogen lights will be strategically positioned inside the chandeliers, to highlight the chandelier’s design. “We’ve gotten one chandelier back so far, and it is beautiful,” Father Harman said. “You can see designs in the chandelier that you never noticed before.” All the lights will be on dimmers, so as to adjust to different times of day, different liturgical occasions.

“Some of you may remember the damage caused to some of the plaster a few years back due to leaks in the roof,” Father Harman said, as he stopped at a table covered with sections of plaster designs. “Workers created models for the designs, and then cast them in plaster.”

Much of the work done so far inside the cathedral can’t be seen. “There are miles of new electrical wiring, plumbing and heating work. In the tunnels below, every wire has been replaced, and brought up to code. After all, the cathedral will be 81 years old this October.”

Structural steel for the new atrium at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield was put in place the first week of March. The atrium roof is tiered at the north and south end, enabling light to reach some stained glass windows on the Cathedral’s south side, and some second floor windows of the school’s north side. The group made its way outside through an opening midway in the south wall to what will become the atrium entrance. Structural steel had just been set in place that week, giving the atrium a physical shape. Examples of the stone that will be used for the atrium were on display, showing how close a match it will be. “The Minnesota quarry is still in operation, and has the same stone as it supplied in 1928,” Father Harman said.

An elevator in the atrium will enable a person in a wheelchair, or unable to negotiate stairs, access to the atrium without a single stair in the way.

Back inside the cathedral, Father Harman stopped at an artist’s rendering of what the cathedral will look like upon completion to point out some of the things that will be done.

“Where do the servers sit?” asked Peter Staab, 14, a freshman at SHG, who was on the tour with his mother, Ruth, and younger brother, Parker. His mother assured him, “There will be a place, or, you’ll stand.”

Mary Priester, who went on a later tour with her daughter, Laurie Weakley, said, “I can’t wait until it is all done, so I can see how really beautiful it is going to be.”