Assomption Cathedral $7M renovation begins in Moncton

Though the campaign to save Notre-Dame-de-l'AssomptionCathedralin Monctonis still $800,000short, restoration work began on its foundation last week.

A community group raised more than $6 millionover two years in order to save the downtown landmark.

Marie-Linda Lord, the president of the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Cathedral foundation, says the cathedral's future is now solidified.

"We're very happy to see all the machines around the church, so it means now that the cathedral is saved," she said.

Fundraising campaign

Lord saidthe restoration will take fiveyears to completebecause there is a lot to be done.

"They're starting with the foundation of the church. They want tomake sure that it's in good shape.Next summer they'll start to look at all the stones on the exterior walls," she said.

"And there's work to be done also on the roof because it has leaked on the organ last spring. So we want tomake sure to save the organ."

Lord said she believes her group was able to raise the large sum because of the importance of the cathedral in Moncton's Acadian community.

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"People have been generous because they knew from the start that we were facing an important issue. Either demolishing it or fixing it.

"And I think people believed that it was important to find the money, so to be generous, so we could have the restoration that the cathedral needed."

Part of the cathedral will beconvertedinto office spacesand conference rooms that Lord saidwill be a source of revenue in the future.

"It won't be made with the money we raised, the money comes from other sources, it's another project," she said.

Historical value

Historian Robert Pichettesaidit's not the first time the church has served as a community centre.

"Archbishop Melanson, the founder of this cathedral, wanted this cathedral to be many things, not just a worship temple," he said.

"There was a museum here which was the nucleus of the Acadian museum now on the campus of the university. There were meeting rooms, there was a lending library for the public, newspapers, plus the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul [society] which looked after poor people. It was a great many things."

The structure wasbuiltin 10 monthsin 1940 andis one of the few examples of art deco architecture in New Brunswick.

The stained glass windows of the cathedralall portray women in the Bible.

Pichette saidabove all, the structure is a symbol of the Acadian people.

"It is highly significant because it was an identity question. It showed the entire world that the Acadians were a people. They were upright, they were standing upright..

"This was a way of saying 'We're home and here we are, and we deserve the best.'"