Door opens on bid to breathe new life into city’s cathedral

A NEW door into Wakefield Cathedral is to be unveiled today as work finally starts on a redevelopment scheme to breathe new life into the historic building.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Feb 2012, 12:13 BST

Project 2013 will see the nave transformed with improved lighting, flooring, heating and sound systems, a bright interior to better reveal the cathedral’s important heritage and the pews will be taken out to create a more flexible open space for worship, public gatherings, concerts and celebrations.

The project has already won support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) with a successful bid of £1.58m. This, together with other grants, donations and fund-raising efforts by local people and members of the congregation means over £2.5m has been raised and work can finally begin to transform the iconic building.

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“This is a marvellous moment. The work is finally begun after several years of preparation and fund raising. We know there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us but we are really looking forward to delivering a renewed cathedral fit for purpose for the 21st century,” said the Dean of Wakefield, the Rev Jonathan Greener.

The nave will be closed off for a year to allow the works to be carried out, but people will still be able to use the cathedral via a new side door into the east end of the cathedral, which will be opened today by The Dean and The Mayor of Wakefield, Coun Ros Lund. The first phase of the project is expected to last for 14 months, with fund-raising still ongoing.

The Dean and Chapter want to raise another £1.5m to realise Phase Two of the project and renovate Treacy Hall and build a glass atrium linking it to the cathedral.