Saint John's Cathedral

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine consists of an external stone structure that houses a wooden one

within. The Cathedral has withstood a massive earthquake in 1974, and several hurricanes. However

it now faces its greatest enemy: Time. As our brothers and sisters in St. Croix said about the restoration

of their church, also called St. John, "Time neither respects persons or things. None--not even imposing

buildings and monuments--can withstand the passage of time unscathed without at least some help."

( http://stjcrestoration.com/default.aspx)

The cathedral was closed in December 2009 following an accident when one of the stone floor slabs

gave way underneath a teacher who was preparing students of the Antigua Girls High School for their

annual Carol Service. Thanks be to God, her injuries were limited to soft tissue damage and she has

since made a complete recovery. It is ironic that until the accident, restoration efforts had been focused

upward, on the roof sheathing which had been in place since the reconstruction of the Cathedral. This

accident forced our attentions downward to the sagging and cracked stone slabs, which were no longer

able to support the various and important activities of the Church.

The construction of the 'floor' of the cathedral is unique in that one must make the distinction between

the aisles, which are stone and the floor of the pews which is wooden. The 'floor' is a suspended one

that rests on foundation walls made of stone cemented with a lime based mortar. Contrary to popular

imagination, the space beneath the floor is only three or four feet in height. These areas are all under

the stone aisles. The areas between the aisles, over which the pews rest, are filled with material to

within, in some places, six inches of the pew floors. This hollow space underneath the aisles is for the

purposes of ventilation. In the floor of the cathedral are several brass circular grills. These would seem

to the uninformed to be floor drains. However what they are is part of an ingenious ventilation system.

At the eastern side of the Cathedral there appears in the outer foundation wall several grilled arched

openings. These openings are in truth entry ways for the prevailing winds to blow air into and beneath

the Cathedral and up through the floor vents into the nave (the part of the church that is designed to

accommodate the congregation in pews or chairs). The stone slabs that make up the aisles are four

inches thick and rest on the foundation walls.

After a great deal of search and research the Technical Committee found that the best solution for the

restoration of the aisles would be to replace the stone slabs with polished coloured reinforced concrete.

This was considered to be the best solution because coloured concrete is locally available and we could

achieve a 'marble like' look and finish when we polished it. The possibility and logistics, not to mention

costs, of stone replacements were staggering. After a congregational consultation we committed

ourselves to this solution and we are therefore confident of restoring the Cathedral aisles to a very high

standard.

The pews and the pew floors will be restored using as much of the original wood as possible in the pews

and with hardwood for the pew floors. As there is extensive termite damage to the pews, once the

pews and aisles have been removed during the demolition phase of the works the foundation of the

Cathedral will be termite treated.

The roof works will involve the replacement of the existing sheathing, gutters and drain pipes. These

have been leaking extensively and have resulted in a lot of water damage to the interior wood walls.

There is evidence of several exterior stones crumbling which may be due in part to the none lime based

cement wash that was recently (30 – 40 years ago) applied. Coupled with the termite damage to the

doors, the deteriorating walkways and churchyard walls among other things, you now have a clear

picture of the magnitude of this restoration. Work has been divided into the following phases:

Phase one: Roof, aisles and pews

Phase two: Interior and exterior walls, electrical works

Phase three: Toilets, stairs and doors

Phase four: Churchyard and surrounding walls

Phase one of the restoration started in September with the removal of the pews, the aisle stone slabs

and the roof wood and metal sheeting. What was immediately uncovered was a massive termite

infestation. There is hardly a wooden structure in the Cathedral that is not showing some damage from

the termites. The Restoration Technical Committee quickly determined that a comprehensive termite

eradication project must take place. This will not only involve the well known spray treatments but also

the fumigation of the entire structure. The latter technique involves covering the entire Cathedral with

canvas, much like a gigantic tent and flooding the entire structure with a termite killing gas.

In spite of cracking in a few foundation walls, our inspection so far suggests that the foundation of

the Cathedral is still in good condition. The technical committee is currently working on designing

the repair to these foundation cracks and other works that will ensure that the foundations will last

another 160+ years. In the meantime with the roof, aisles and pews removed and with the amount of

termite damaged interior wood we have to remove, we have decided to advance elements of Phase two

forward into Phase one. The idea is that we will complete all works on the interior of the Cathedral now

and then start on the exterior.

In the natural, especially in these economically depressed times, the restoration of the Cathedral of St.

John the Divine seems like a gigantic task. But we are fortified by the Bible story of David facing Goliath

by realising that this young boy was not intimidated, like the rest of the Israelite army, by the size of his

opponent but empowered by the magnitude and power of his God. We are so empowered because we

believe that with God all things are possible.

You can follow the "day to day" activities of the restoration on line at the restoration blog at the

following address. http://stjohnsrestoration.blogspot.com/