Plans aim at Cathedral basics

After a year of intensive study, the Cathedral Interior Committee has developed a preliminary plan to renovate internal structures at the historic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Albany.

The plan was developed with the advice of design and building professionals, Cathedral parishioners, musicians, and experts in arts and architecture.

The plan is not an "unveiling of a grand design" for the building, but rather a blueprint that "gets us moving forward to our next step," said Elizabeth Simcoe, Interior Committee chairperson and diocesan chancellor for pastoral services.

Fixing basics

According to Ms. Simcoe, the plan emphasizes stabilizing the building, updating its aging and outdated infrastructure, and renovating the worship space.

Among the plan's features are attention to maintenance issues, such as drainage, fire safety, basement asbestos abatement, new flooring, plaster work, and the updating of the electric and heating systems.

"We're taking care of the fundamentals first and will be dealing with aesthetics as the next step," she said. "Before you do cosmetic things, you must do structural things."

Long process

Ms. Simcoe said that "the committee has been working on this since 2002, doing research by traveling to other cathedrals and churches to see how their space has been restored, renovated, re-lit and acoustically improved.

"We've done a lot of research, and a lot of consultation with people who have a great deal of knowledge about the arts and about building systems."

While no decision has been made yet, Ms. Simcoe said that the Cathedral may need to be closed for a time in order to ensure the "health and safety of parishioners," and "to not prolong the life of the project."

'Jewel' of downtown

Rev. William Pape, rector of the Cathedral, said that the interior renovation is "long overdue. It's a jewel in the Diocese, the oldest neo-Gothic cathedral in the United States.

"We have a real treasure here. When people from all over the world come, they are really impressed with its beauty and peace."

According to a press release from the Diocese, $10 million is being sought for the project. The renovation of the interior is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2007.

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