Maintaining our historical cathedral

The cathedral is once again undergoing further minor renovations. New furniture with appropriate signage will be installed in the narthex of the church where the Catholic News is sold. This is in keeping with enhancing hospitality and aesthetics at our cathedral. The steps in the south transept have been removed as they were mistakenly erected. It was felt the terrazzo underneath the steps would have been relatively unaffected but it was damaged. It therefore had to be removed and redone. Some finishing touches are still needed on this. This area now contains the temporary, wooden, mildly ornate baptismal font.

Since the chandeliers in the cathedral require many bulbs, a storage area is being constructed to store the requisite LED bulbs and well as other small frequently used items. These new bulbs will bring out the beauty of the chandeliers more than the present ones. A meeting was recently held with the choirs, musicians, Archbishop’s Appeal representative Jenny Lee, sound technician Victor Donawa, and the Administrator, Fr Martin Sirju. This meeting was to ensure maximum, careful and proper use of the sound system. Donawa strongly emphasised that local and visiting choirs must not interfere with chords and microphones as they are set up. If they need assistance they must consult with the sacristans and inform the parish office of their impending visit.

Over the next three weeks the exterior walls of the cathedral will be washed. This requires use of special chemicals that would not damage the limestone exterior. The pressure used must also be at a pre-determined level. The cathedral looks relatively clean on the outside but closer examination will reveal the accumulation of moss and soot. The cathedral’s exterior walls have not been washed in a few years.

Fr Sirju mentioned that we have to get accustomed to the concept of ongoing renovations when it comes to a historical building like the cathedral. He said he looks forward to the day when the cathedral will no longer have maintenance items stored in in—lumber, pipes, scaffolding and other equipment—but at the moment we have to cope with some of these minor inconveniences. He said he is very grateful for donations received from time to time. He encourages parishioners to give more to support their cathedral as well as donors from other parishes. He said when people come to the cathedral they must look up not down: “We must become a model of what other parish churches can be.”