Thank God that’s finally over
Congregation celebrates completion of renovations to century-old church
The completion of a long and attimes difficult renovation process was celebrated Sunday at one of Kelowna’s oldest churches. Parishioners gathered at the Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels for a rededication of the Anglican church, first opened in 1913.
The renovation cost $300,000 and spanned almost 18 months, during which time the church had to occasionally hold services elsewhere.
“It has been a long year and a half, waiting, watching and hoping that in the end all would be well, with our original vision remaining mostly intact and our pocketbooks not drained,” the Very Rev. Nissa Basbaum, dean of the cathedral, said in her address to the congregation.
“Remember January 2016 when, as if it wasn’t enough that the cathedral was full of dust from the wall reparations, a crack was found in the west wall, which forced the closing of the front doors,” Basbaum said.
“The cathedral doors reopened just in time for Easter — our very own rising from the tomb, you might say,” she said.
The renovations involved extensive repair and refurbishment to the century-old brickwork, restoration of the church’s oak floor and painting of the 15-metre-high walls.
“The floors are golden, so golden that the funniest thing I heard at the end of January was someone suggesting that the first person who scratched the floor should receive a medal because then everyone else would be able to relax,” Basbaum said.
About half the church’s fixed pews were removed, and chairs are now arranged in a semi-circle in front of the pulpit. The idea is to make the church more welcoming as a venue for small concerts, lectures and community events.
“This was perhaps the most controversial part of this renovation,” Basbaum said. “But I believe it will allow our church to be what the original cathedrals were — that is, the centre of a city, not just its religious and spiritual centre, but the centre of its secular life, too. This cathedral, I hope, will become even more of a gathering place than it already is.”