While restoration work on the northern side of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port-of-Spain, is close to completion there is still no projected date for finishing the entire project.
In April last year, Archbishop Joseph Harris ordered that the 163-year-old cathedral and city landmark be closed indefinitely to facilitate critical restoration work and to ensure the safety of parishioners since parts were considered to be dilapidated. Harris had also said closure would allow for acceleration of the restoration work.
Since then, scaffolding has been erected in and outside of the cathedral. The stained-glass windows have been covered and a construction team is on site.But how much work has been done so far?Last week, a news team from the T&T Guardian visited the cathedral and toured the site with project manager from Prime Project Managers Ltd, Chad Field, and project manager for Construction Restoration Maintenance Service Ltd, Justin Charles.
On entering the cathedral, Charles pointed to the northern aisle and the left side of the ceiling, which were previously termite-infested.Field said that was the first issue tackled by the restoration, adding: "It was the most critical part, since the termite infestation threatened the main support and it could have collapsed."
That side of the ceiling is a lighter shade of brown than the right side because the decorative panels and the structural truss members (beams) have been replaced, using greenheart wood rather than the original oak. Charles said greenheart wood was highly resistant to termites.Another noticeable difference is that the left wall of the church has been replastered.
Charles added: "It looks like it is just a little bit of work. But it is a lot. It first involves chipping the wall and removing the Portland cement from the internal wall before reapplying the wall with lime mortar."Removing the original cement took four days and applying lime mortar took around four to five weeks. The cylindrical pillars of the cathedral have also been chipped in preparation for replastering."
The circular rose windows on the north side have also been completed. Charles said the glass has been replaced and the cast iron leading separating the pieces of stained glass has been cleaned and repainted.The two then directed the news team along Independence Square North to look at the cathedral's exterior.
The bricks and the entire wall on that side appear cleaner and lighter in colour. Charles and Field said that was because the Portland cement had been replaced with lime mortar. He said lime mortar was known to be more compatible in the restoration of historical stone buildings.Charles said members of the public needed to recognise that most of what the restoration team was doing so far was corrective work.
"There have been a lot of unforeseen damage and when we saw the potential risk, the client made the decision to correct what was done previously.People expect to see a new building but what we are really doing is fixing and restoring," he added.
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Co-ordinator speaks
The T&T Guardian also spoke to the project co-ordinator of the Archbishop's Appeal, Jenny Lee.She said while the restoration project was initially divided into eight phases and expected to be completed within five years, the plan changed when project engineers discovered further critical issues in the cathedral's structure. its southern aisle which would look just like the northern one.
Asked about an expected completion date, Lee said: "My answer is quite simply no. It is a restoration project and so we do not know what issues we will encounter as we go further. We can say that the work is going more rapidly than expected and if we continue at this pace, the cathedral will be able to open sooner."
She also said one of the major concerns in completing the project was the issue of fund-raising. She said the local Catholic community had been very supportive and the Archbishop's Appeal would continue to make appeals to the corporate community for assistance.Lee said the focus was now on reaching out to members of the T&T diaspora and establishing fund-raising efforts in the international community.
She said that had already begun in New York and similar efforts would soon start in Florida, Toronto and London.