Ukrainian cathedral restored, ready after 2016 arson
Back to its glory
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/08/2017 (3294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
With new church bells, repaired windows, a complete paint job and a whole lot of spit and polish, members of the city’s Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral are again worshipping in their building a year after a fire caused significant damage.
“It’s nice (to be back) after all the trials and turbulence we’ve gone through,” says Greg Palaschuk, president of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral.
“We’re very happy the way we took a tragedy and made it into a blessing.”
On July 14, 2016, an arsonist set fire inside a small room in the southeast corner of the 55-year-old onion-domed cathedral, causing extensive smoke and water damage throughout the building.
After a year of restoration, repairs and repainting totalling $4 million, the 100 or so regular worshippers moved back into the cathedral in early July.
“The congregation is just ecstatic about it,” Rev. Eugene Maximiuk says of worshipping inside the Main Street cathedral, which was blessed and reconsecrated July 2 by church officials.
“They are happy to be back upstairs.”
Immediately after the fire, the congregation moved its Sunday services to nearby Cropo Funeral Chapel. Last November, they moved their services into the cathedral’s lower-level auditorium.
Now they’re celebrating the Divine Liturgy — the Orthodox term for their worship service — on freshly cleaned pews inside the completely repainted sanctuary.
All of the building’s 37 icons painted on the front wall have been cleaned and restored, damaged stained glass is mostly repaired, and temporary LED lights have been installed until new light fixtures and chandeliers arrive.
Visitors to the cathedral may notice small design changes, including a deep beige wall colour that sets off the gold paint in the icons, a sky-blue ceiling and a deep-blue inner dome decorated with gold-painted stars and medallions.
“The changes we’ve introduced have enhanced the worship,” Maximiuk says of the cathedral’s refreshed interior, adding the colour scheme reflects the colours of nature.
The official reopening of the cathedral won’t take place until next spring, says Maximiuk, after the installation of the chandeliers and the iconostasis, both of which are under construction.
An iconostasis is the ornate wall or picture screen across the front of Orthodox or Ukrainian Catholic churches, separating the altar from the main worship space.
brenda@suderman.com
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Holy building boom
Holy Trinity’s $4-million restoration and repair project is just one of several large building projects in Winnipeg’s religious community.
Construction is underway on a $12-million multipurpose hall for St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church (stpeterrcchurch.ca) at Inkster and Brookside boulevards, with the congregation expecting to use it for weddings, funerals and church events early in 2018. Once the 21,000-square-foot hall is complete, the parish plans to celebrate one of six weekend masses at the new location.
The parish of 10,000 also plans to construct a large worship space and school after the completion of the hall, at a total cost of about $35 million.
“There’s momentum (for raising funds) because (parishioners) see the building is going up,” says Luchie Sanchez, member of the building committee.
Foundation work for Winnipeg’s new Mormon Temple (ldschurchtemples.org/winnipeg) is expected to start in late September, says senior project manager Steve Armstrong of Salt Lake City.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not disclose the actual cost of its ornate temples, which are funded by its members. Armstrong only disclosed that the 16,100-sq.-ft. Winnipeg temple in the southwest Winnipeg neighbourhood of Bridgwater will cost “many millions.”
“We don’t start until we have cash on hand, all of it,” Armstrong says. “We don’t finance anything.”
Construction is expected to last nearly two years, with a projected opening date of the temple and meeting house, both located on 2 Centre St., set for the summer 2019.
Gateway Church (gatewaywinnipeg.com) plans to relocate from Panet Road to West St. Paul, just north of the Perimeter Highway, by the fall of 2019.
The evangelical Christian congregation of about 600 recently purchased 25 acres off Kapelus Drive, next to the Sunova Centre, says senior pastor Ron MacLean. The 60,000-sq.-ft. building project includes a multipurpose worship space, offices, a prayer tower, nursery space and a new campus for the King’s School, a private Christian elementary and high school that now shares space with the church at 851 Panet Rd.
The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.
Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt.
BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER
Brenda Suderman has been a columnist in the Saturday paper since 2000, first writing about family entertainment, and about faith and religion since 2006.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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The Free Press acknowledges the financial support it receives from members of the city’s faith community, which makes our coverage of religion possible.
