Three years and $177 million later…behold the new St. Patrick’s

Photo: Archdiocese of New York

From The New York Daily News: 

There’s nothing like a papal visit to strike the fear of God into a slow-moving construction crew.

Jeffrey Murphy, who headed the heavenly makeover of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, admitted Wednesday they picked up the pace of the three-year remodeling project after they got wind that Pope Francis was coming to New York City.

“Everyone knew that this guy was showing up and we wanted it to look great,” the architect said. “With the papal visit in a few weeks, we really targeted it for completing most of the work.”

Murphy’s acknowledgement came during a tour of the 137-year-old Midtown landmark, and with the Pope’s arrival two weeks away.

Three years and $177 million later, St. Pat’s is a sight to behold.

Murphy’s 150 workers started by refurbishing the exterior, cleaning and repairing the stones in the cathedral’s spires before working their way inside.

They removed the statues that had cluttered the entrance. One statue was piled on another, as if the cathedral’s caretakers couldn’t part with stuff somebody gave them.

“We used this as a real opportunity to edit out a lot of things,” said Murphy.

They polished the bronze doors and brought in experts to refurbish the stained glass windows. They replaced the old bulky speakers with smaller, less obtrusive ones. And they lavished a lot of love on the soaring ceiling.

Read the rest. 

Check out a video about the restoration for WCBS TV below.