An architectural sketch shows the area that will be walled-off in phase 2 of the restoration of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
By Patrick Downes Hawaii Catholic Herald
Top, polished granite grave markers on the floor of the sanctuary of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace cover the spots were Bishop Louis Maigret and Bishop John J. Scanlan are buried. The remains will be reinterred in a new bishops’ crypt in the renovated church.
Workers will erect a plywood wall in September to block off more than third of the interior worship space of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace as part of “Phase 2,” the next major stage in the church’s renovation.
Starting in September or early October, and for the following nine months, a wide variety of work will be conducted behind that wall, from electrical wiring, to outdoor landscaping, to the temporary removal of the remains of two bishops, to the restoration of stained glass windows, to the renovation of the sanctuary. And more.
The wall will go up across the entire width of the church, approximately where the main altar stands now, to allow the renovation work to take place out of sight.
The remainder of the cathedral space will continue to be used for daily and weekend Masses. The galleries (the upstairs balcony areas on the right, left and rear of the church) will be open to compensate for the reduced worship space.
The remains of the two bishops buried under the sanctuary — Bishop Louis Maigret, who built the cathedral, and Bishop John J. Scanlan, the second bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu — will be disinterred and temporarily stored at St. Stephen Diocesan Center. The renovated cathedral will have new crypts and bishops’ chapels on both sides of the sanctuary for the burial of these and future bishops.
Phase 2 construction will extend the size of the sanctuary floor to accommodate the placement of the main altar closer to the back wall than it is now. It will also add a wheelchair ramp.
The translucent screen which separates the eucharistic chapel (the tabernacle area) from the rest of the worship space will be removed.
Phase 2 will also see the removal of four stained glass windows for cleaning and restoration. A opening will be cut on the mauka-side of the church for a door to a reliquary chapel, a small side room which will house the relics of St. Damien de Veuster and St. Marianne Cope.
This work phase will also see the connection of the “chill water line” from the central air-conditioning system on the roof of the chancery building next door.
Also part of Phase 2 were renovations to the cathedral’s bell tower completed this past March. Custom-made bronze mesh screens were installed to prevent pigeons and other birds from roosting and nesting in the tower. The screens replace latticework which were less effective in keeping the birds out.
The new screens also allow the building’s two historic bells, dated 1853 and 1865, to be visible.
Phase 1, completed in November 2015, saw primarily the repair and reinforcement of the second floor galleries which had extensive termite damage. The galleries’ original hardwood floors are being refinished to be reinstalled later.
According to the cathedral restoration website, www.honolulucathedralrenewal.org, the cost of the complete renovation will be at least $15 million. In May, the parish received its single largest gift for the project, $1.25 million bequest from an anonymous parishioner. This money will help pay for Phase 2.
Plans are to have the cathedral ready for the celebration of its 175th anniversary in August 2018.
The final phases, three through six, to be completed after the anniversary celebration, will include the building of the reliquary chapel, renovations to the interior, new pews, a new tile floor, cleaning of the vaulted ceilings, restoration of the pipe organ, exterior landscaping and more.
Among the goals of the restoration, according to the website, is to “honor and invoke the nineteenth-century time period of St. Damien and St. Marianne,” who both used the church, officially recognized as a historic building.
The pews, which now face each other in monastery-style seating, will all face the altar in the renovated church.
The work will restore the hand-painted ceilings, artwork, fixtures and statues, clean and restore the stained glass windows and repair the old Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ and the antique tower clock.
Emulating the 19th-century look will be new flooring tile, an octagonal ambo or pulpit, old-fashioned confessionals, oil lamp-style lighting fixtures and the remastering of the original oil-painted stations of the cross.
New additions will be a marble altar and matching marble baptismal font; also a new sound and video system.
Well-known liturgical design expert De La Salle Christian Brother William Woeger is the primary consultant for the restoration project.
Honolulu-based Mason Architects Inc. and RDG Planning and Design of Omaha, Nebraska, both of whom have experience in church restoration, created the renovation plans. Trinity Management Group LLC is the project manager and Constructors Hawaii Inc. the lead contractor.
Multiple structural, artistic and other specialist sub-contractors are also contributing to the project.
