Cathedral closed temporarily for repair

Masses have been suspended at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for one week beginning Wednesday August 22, to deal with the damage caused by last Tuesday’s 6.9 earthquake. Initial assessments indicate the structural integrity of the 167-year-old Heritage building has not been compromised.

As of last Wednesday, the most visible damage was the gaping hole in the sacristy after a finial—the decorative upper portion of the buttress, broke and fell through the roof. Two items of furniture were destroyed but no one was hurt. Persons in the church fled as a Mass was taking place at the time. Head altar server Brian Connell described the experience as “very frightening”.

There is concern that two other finials, one at the north and another at the southern side above the sacristy pose a threat and must be removed. Within the Cathedral there was some debris on the ground from dislodged lime mortar, a timber trim or moulding on a column in the nave had detached and a decorative bell on the truss (a framework, typically consisting of rafters, posts, and struts, supporting a roof or other structure) fell and broke.

When Catholic Newsvisited the Cathedral Wednesday morning, on site were Vicar General and Cathedral Administrator Fr Martin Sirju, an architect, structural engineer, persons from the Property Building and Restoration Unit and the project manager involved in the Cathedral restoration surveying the damage. Fr Sirju had also sought advice from an engineer specialising in construction at places prone to earthquakes.

Fr Sirju said there was a crack in a finial next to the one which fell through the roof. He was concerned “it would not take much to have that come tumbling down”. Coincidentally, the rumble of debris falling was heard in the sacristy after 9 a.m. while the site visit was occurring. Fr Sirju said the hole in the roof would be sealed last Thursday by a roofing contractor. Members of the Cathedral congregation were initially advised to attend Masses at the Sacred Heart RC church, Richmond Street till Wednesday 29.

A request was made to the Port of Spain City Corporation and police for a section of roadway between George and Nelson Streets to be closed because of the possibility the finial could fall.

Architect Rudylynn De Four Roberts who was also at the Cathedral later told Catholic Newstwo “badly damaged” finials at the top of the church had to be removed immediately; one was looking “very precarious”. She said arrangements were to be made by the Chancery for an engineering crew to remove them. De Four Roberts said the first step was for temporary repairs on the roof in the sacristy and for it to be propped from inside and the hole covered. The details of the repairs needed had to be determined. She said it was too precarious for anyone to venture on the roof the day after the earthquake.

Deacon Roy Raghunanan, episcopal delegate for Administration: Chancery Offices said a lot of resources went into restoring the Cathedral and making it safe. Although there are many needs and projects in the archdiocese, he said, “our think-tank will have to come together and say this is what we need after we have done a full assessment and [the] engineer does due diligence then we will cost it”.

He had received reports of damage at Holy Rosary RC, Henry Street and Church of the Assumption, Maraval and visits were to be conducted at these churches.

There will be no weekend and weekday Masses at the Cathedral. Masses will take place at the Sacred Heart RC Church, corner of Richmond and Sackville streets. Mass times are as follows: 6.30 a.m. Monday through Friday; noon on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday; and 6.30 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday.