State aids Cathedral restoration

A $350,000 grant from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation will move forward the ongoing restoration of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany.

"It's fantastic!" exulted Thomas Prindle, director of development and public relations for the Cathedral. "This enables us to proceed with yet another phase of the Cathedral's restoration -- and a very important phase."

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard was "overjoyed" by news of the grant, calling it "a recognition on the part of the wider community of the important role the Cathedral plays in the Capital District."

As cathedrals have been since medieval times, he added, the Albany church is "a place where the community can gather for artistic and musical events, as well as its primary purpose of worship."

State funding

Nearly $59 million in awards were announced last week by Gov. George Pataki.

The Cathedral is one of 19 communities and sites across the state to receive a $350,000 grant; others include Saratoga PLAN (a land trust covering 90 acres), the Nassau County Parks Dept., the New York City Police Museum and Save Ellis Island.

Catholic organizations receiving grants of the same amount as the Cathedral include the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary/St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine and the convent of Sacred Heart School, both in New York City.

Locally, St. Ann's Maronite Catholic Church in Troy received a $190,000 award to restore the facade and stained glass windows of a Watervliet church to which the parish is moving.

Facade repair

The Cathedral's award will fund renovation of its east facade, including the removal of Portland brownstone, repointing the brick armature underneath and installing new sandstone.

Rev. William Pape, rector of the Cathedral, said that replacing the crumbling stone is "addressing a problem that goes back to the very beginning of the Cathedral," when stone cut for its face was improperly bedded.

Mr. Prindle noted that this phase of the 150-year-old Cathedral's restoration is especially significant because it involves the front facade, the main entrance for worshippers and visitors.

Reaction

"We're extremely grateful and happy that the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation continues to see the Cathedral as a historic building and worthy of our efforts to restore it," Father Pape told The Evangelist.

Mr. Prindle believes the size of the grant and others like it "really show the commitment the State of New York has shown over the last decade -- not just to the Cathedral, but to historic properties all over New York State."

He boasted that the Cathedral also received state grant monies in 1999 and 2003, signifying its value as an Albany landmark.

"If you look at all the other projects in the state that have received money, the Cathedral ranks very high," he noted.

(Interior restoration of the Cathedral is set to begin next summer. Previous work has included replacement and repair of sandstone facing on the tower, and removal of deteriorated plaster decorations inside the Cathedral in preparation for their repair.)

(10/26/06)