Ukrainian cathedral restored, ready after 2016 arson

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This article was published 12/08/2017 (3000 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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