The Breathtaking St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral

Building and modernizing sacred spaces has been a big part of McGough’s business for more than five generations.  Sacred buildings are often large-volume spaces that have unique structural, mechanical, acoustical, and lighting requirements.

Most recently, we renovated St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral in Minneapolis.  Many unique challenges were presented in the renovation of the Cathedral. The Altar’s existing carpet was removed to reveal the original wood flooring, which was then sanded and refinished along with installation of new treads and risers.  The Sanctuary in its entirety and adjacent rooms received a new painted finish, and the pews were removed and refinished offsite while the restoration took place. An astounding sixty feet of scaffolding was erected in the interior dome of the church, so a world renowned Russian iconographer, Dmitry Shkolnik could start the tedious work of hand painting detailed designs on the Sanctuary’s walls and ceiling.  All the while, parish members waited anxiously for 3 months, worshipping in a gymnasium as their Orthodox Cathedral was being renovated.

Below are a few pictures of this unique and intricate project that was completed in July 2015.