The St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, America’s oldest continuously active Catholic cathedral, is set to undergo major renovations to preserve the historic building.
The renovations are funded through the “Our City Our Cathedral,” fundraising campaign, headed by New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson.
The renovations are expected to cost $45 million, with work beginning on the outside before moving to the interior.
The exterior will take around two years, and the interior will follow with another 18 to 24 months. The interior will have walls repaired or replaced and feature a new fire-suppression system.
Kevin Morris, principal architect and president of Holly and Smith Architects, recently visited the St. Louis Cathedral to inspect it for its upcoming renovations. The firm, which is responsible for Dooky Chase’s Chapter IV restaurant at the Downtown Thirteen15 Building, will start work in the next coming months.
“People are blown away by the beauty of it, the historic aspect of it, its significance,” Morris said to Nola.com. “But I don’t think that the general public knows how much deterioration is going on.”