It’s turning out to be quite a team.

Some of the newer members include a nationally recognized, award-winning architectural firm, and a Christian brother who has earned international acclaim for his liturgical design.

Their project is the renovation of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

Restoration of the diocesan cathedral, a Sacramento landmark built in 1889, is a key component of the Diocese of Sacramento’s $50 million capital campaign, “Preserving Our Past, Building Our Future,” launched in September.

The campaign will direct $10 million toward refurbishing and repairing the cathedral. Though the final cost may reach $20 million, only $10 million will come from the campaign and the diocese will contribute the rest.

Beyer Blinder Belle, New York-based architects and planners, was named the

architect of record in

December following an

extensive national search. Harry Hallenbeck, project director and supervising architect for the cathedral renovation, explained the requirements to remain on a list of invited firms, narrowed from 16 down to one.

“We wanted a firm recognized for its historic preservation and Catholic church commissions, doing top notch work nationally,” he said.

Among the high-profile projects nationwide of Beyer Blinder Belle are the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt

Lake City, the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration in New York, and the Denver Arts Center.

Current projects include the revitalization of Rockefeller Center and the rehabilitation of The Ford Center for the Performing Arts, both located in New York City.

The architectural firm’s list of awards include the prestigious Presidential Design Award for the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration, the Delaware Aqueduct and Grand Central Terminal in New York, several National Trust for Historic Preservation honor awards, and Time Magazine’s “Best Ten” designs of the year awards.

Several members of Beyer Blinder Belle’s cathedral project team were in Sacramento the first week of February for a series of planning meetings. One members of the team, James Rhodes, is a partner with the New York architectural firm and its director of historic preservation. He said the excitement of the cathedral project is in “taking a part of a community’s heritage and making it work for today.”

“We want to put the whole building into balance, not just architecturally but decoratively and liturgically…so that the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament can be a seamless and exciting experience,” he said.

Plans call for funding to restore the cathedral’s original grand dome, address structural problems, upgrade artwork and renovate chapels.

Besides paying attention to seismic and acoustical requirements, the architectural team will be creating a place where people can come together and find meaning.

“We want to seek out the uniqueness of the building, its bishop, and the congregation, and be responsive to all of that,” Rhodes said. “We want to open it up to life in a new century.”

The diocese has retained Christian Brother William Woeger, director of the office of worship for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb., as liturgical design consultant for the cathedral project.

Brother Woeger has served as a consultant nationally for more than 20 new church construction projects, nearly 30 church renovations, and numerous icon commissions.

He was selected in 2001 to be a major presenter for at a conference at the University of Notre Dame on “Cathedral Architecture for the New Millennium.”

Brother Woeger’s awards include a 1991 honor award from the American Institute of Architects; an award for excellence in art in 1995 from the National American Institute of Architects; and the 2001 Religious Art and Architecture award for excellence in liturgical/interior design from the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture.

In an interview, Brother Woeger contended that the renovated Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament will become “an exemplary model which shows the presence of Christ in the liturgy.”

“This is the bishop’s church, and in the office of bishop is found the fullness of Jesus Christ,” he said. “One would expect to find the fullest expression of worship…for parish communities gathered at the mother church.”

Liturgical design issues to be addressed in the coming months include the location of the bishop’s chair, the choir and organ, and elements related to celebration of the Eucharist.

Five committees have been named to coordinate the cathedral renovation project. They include an executive committee with oversight of logistical planning; a steering committee with members serving as advisors to the bishop to help shape decisions relative to the project; a liturgical design committee which will establish the placement and impact of major liturgical elements; a public relations committee with an advisory function on media issues; and a budget committee whose members have not yet been appointed.

“When the work is complete, people will see a new cathedral that embodies not only a worship space, but the whole mission of the diocese as it relates to the faithful and the surrounding community,” Hallenbeck said.

Renovation of the cathedral is expected to begin in the fall.

A “town hall” meeting for members of the Catholic community with architects and liturgical consultants to discuss restoring the interior of the cathedral will be held Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, located at 11th and K Streets in Sacramento. For information call (916) 444-3071

Copyright © 2001 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved

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