Repairs underway at historic cathedral

St. John’s Church on Albert Street has been in need of repair for a long time. Increasingly the one hundred and eighty-eight-year-old landmark and its parishioners have had to endure a leaky roof, not to mention rotting beams. Supporters have staged numerous fund raising activities to fix the problems and finally those efforts seem to be paying off. With one hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars set aside to get the job done, Father Lloyd Neal showed us how the restoration of the church has been coming along.

Father Lloyd Neal, Priest in Charge, St. John’s Church

“So far, the engineer has taken off parts of the roof. It is expected that he’ll take off the whole roof and do restoration work there. Also there will be renovation work on windows and also on some window panes that have been missing and other little light repairs.”

Jose Sanchez

“What was the problem with the roof?”

Father Lloyd Neal

“For a long time the roof has been bothering us as to why it has been leaking. There have been many attempts to patch it but because parts of the roof being asbestos, there have been cracks. As you it is very difficult to repair the cracks. As a result we reach the stage now when we have to take off the entire roof.”

Jose Sanchez

“Is it completely off now?”

Father Lloyd Neal

“Parts of it. The main body is off and Mr. Cunningham is now replacing the wood and after that the sheeting goes on.”

Father Neal says that the church should be back to its former grandeur by August.