Construction begins at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral

The Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral began a $500,000 construction project this week to work on the front entrance .

The Rev. Darrin Connall said the landing step on the front staircase began to deteriorate a few months ago, and a parishioner and a little girl broke through the concrete. Connall said they didn’t fully fall through, which he estimated would be a 10-12 foot drop.

Due to the safety concerns, the church closed off the front entrance and began a project to replace the 117 year-old staircase, move the monument sign to the other side and add lighting and rails.

“It’s mixed feelings replacing such a historic part of our church,” Connall said. “But the safety factors are huge for us.”

Aside from the concrete landing, the granite steps will be preserved and the church hopes to sell them. The funding for the project comes from the Ethel Hall custodial fund. Hall was a parishioner who left her estate to the cathedral. However, the church will also conduct a fundraiser in the next two years to replace the money.

A brochure from the church asked cathedral households to donate $3,000 or more over two years if they are able.

“Individuals and families who are financially capable of pledging $15,000, $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 are asked to prayerfully consider becoming financial leaders of our campaign,” the brochure read.

Mike Coman, the owner of Coman Construction and Excavation, Inc., is in charge of the project and has an excavator and four man crew demolishing the steps. Coman estimated the demolition would take at least a month and then the new steps would be another couple of months after that.

Churchgoers are asked to use the side entrance while the front is fenced off for construction.

The Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral first started in Spokane in 1881 in a converted carpenter shop measuring 15 by 22 feet. Five people attended the first mass, but five years later a brick church dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes replaced the shack. In 1903 construction began on the current church and in 1913 it became the cathedral for the Diocese of Spokane.

Connall also said the new steps will be heated which will help save on maintenance during the winter.

“The biggest goal is for it to be as beautiful and grand as it originally was,” Connall said.