St. John’s brightening

The Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is on a makeover mission.

And it involves masons.

The local firm of Talisman Construction Service Inc. has been hired to clean and restore the main entrance of the 77-year-old church at 127 E. 12th Ave. The entrance – mostly used for weddings and other big events – will be closed for several weeks.

The landmark church at the top of the South Grand Boulevard hill has two other entrances.

Workers began cleaning the exterior last week, and already the difference is noticeable.

Working on landmark buildings, such as St. John’s, is nothing unusual for Talisman Construction owners Jeff Spencer and his younger brother, Matt Spencer. The 10-year-old company also restored the Spokane County Courthouse, Spokane Masonic Temple and Lewis and Clark High Schoolhouse.

It also cleaned and did light restoration on the Spokane Chronicle Building. Its most recent masonry restoration was on the Five Mile Prairie Schoolhouse.

Talisman Construction also is one of many contractors working on the Fox Theater.

The cathedral project is part of a long-term plan that involves cleaning the entire sandstone building. The cost is estimated at more than $1 million, said Ben Nielsen, the church’s architectural adviser since 1975.

Over the years, some of the mortar work has not been done correctly, said Matt Spencer. The building is decorated with gargoyles and sculptured ornaments, many which are damaged.

St. John’s main entrance, nave and tower were built from 1925 to 1929. The carillon was installed in 1971.

The church is of typical English Gothic architecture, with French-influenced details. The structure is solid masonry, and the exterior stone was mined from a quarry near Tacoma.

In another project, unrelated to the stone repair, two new stained-glass windows will be installed in the nave. The windows, being constructed in Philadelphia, are a gift from late parishioner Robert Hyssop, who grew up in Spokane in the 1940s and ‘50s.

The windows will be the first new windows added to the upper level of the nave in several years. There are 10 stained-glass windows on the north and south elevations, and only two are framed in masonry.

Talisman Construction also has been contracted to install the masonry on the new windows.

Aside from the exterior restoration and new stained-glass windows, a capital improvement campaign is in the works to do major restoration to the interior of the church that would cost about $2.5 million.

“Cathedrals are rarely ever finished,” Nielsen said.