The Anglican community will have to raise seven-and-a-half million dollars to restore the St Michael’s Cathedral.
This is the “conceptualised estimate” which chairman of the Diocesan Trustees, Hartley Richards, told the DAILY NATION had been given by the experts, to bring the currently dilapidated cathedral back to an attractive state.
He updated the congregation on developments in the restoration plan during a service at the Cathedral last Sunday morning.
Archbishop Dr John Holder will address the wider Anglican community on the subject at a service to mark the church’s Feast Of Title, taking place at the St Michael’s Cathedral on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Richards said repairs to the 221-year-old Bridgetown landmark would be done in phases, with the first phase scheduled to begin in a month’s time. Stage 1 will see the repair of the chancel roof, gutters and downpipes and the masonry eaves, at a cost of $775 000.
The next phase will be the repair and replacement of the church’s several windows and imposing wooden doors, as well as arresting the rising damp which has caused extensive and unsightly peeling of paint on the interior walls.
There are also plans to replace the entire electrical system, and work will be done on the external walls.
In addition, the graveyard in which the graves of Governors General Sir Deighton Ward and Sir Hugh Springer, and Prime Minister Tom Adams, are to be found, is also in line for a major facelift.
The Diocesan Trustees took over responsibility for the restoration project from the Cathedral Foundation, headed by Sir Richard Cheltenham, and Richards said the Trustees were grateful for the work already done by the foundation.
According to the chairman, the job of restoring the cathedral to its former glory was a major undertaking, for which greater financial support would be sought in a worldwide appeal that was soon to be launched.
The architectural firm Design Collaborative, led by architect Robert O’Neal, has been commissioned to lead the restoration project.
Richards said the trustees would be seeking to get a Value Added Tax waiver from Government, which would reduce the cost by some $685 000.
