The towering spires of Regina’s Holy Rosary Cathedral will soon come down as part of a major restoration project aimed at preserving one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. A narrow stairway inside the cathedral leads to the base of the spires, where crews discovered significant deterioration in the structures that have overlooked the Cathedral neighbourhood since 1913. “The fasteners were starting to let go, some of the screws and nails had fallen out and so that was allowing water to infiltrate,” said John Dipple, co-chair of the Rebuilding Our Church Capital Campaign. The aging spires will now be removed and replaced with replicas as part of the cathedral’s ongoing $8 million restoration. “Next year in January, our contractor PCL will mobilize the site, hopefully in about early March they’ll cut the old existing spires off and crane them down and then during the course of the spring and summer we’ll fabricate new identical spires in our parking lot beside the cathedral and then come the fall, they’ll be able to crane them back up into position and secure them,” Dipple said. The restoration work extends beyond the exterior of the cathedral. Technicians are also repairing the church’s historic organ, replacing pipes that have buckled over time. “I can pick it up and show you. If it stops speaking, it won’t work like that at all,” said Steve Sinclair of Juget-Sinclair. Parishioners say the repairs are necessary to preserve the cathedral for future generations. “It is like you have to fix our car, you don’t have it for life. It’s the same thing with the organ, it has to be fixed up,” noted parishioner Karl Skierszkan. Those overseeing the project say maintaining a historic structure of this size comes with constant challenges, but they remain committed to ensuring the cathedral continues to stand for generations to come.
