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May
21, 2007 
VOL.
45, NO. 10Oakland,
CA
Construction continues for new cathedral
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The cathedral is located across the street from Lake Merritt. Fifteen-foot high concrete walls are the anchor for the wood and glass superstructure. The two sets of walls encircle the sanctuary floor and create devotional spaces within.
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| A construction worker checks one of the 768 horizontal louvers placed between 26 110-foot-high curved laminated Douglas fir ribs. These ribs are conjoined at the top by a compression ring of high tension steel. The wooden vessel of the cathedral structure will eventually be wrapped in a conical tempered-glass veil that will form the cathedral’s outer structure. |
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| The cathedral’s roof, a classically shaped Vesica Pisces, is made of aluminum panels built around the oculus skylight. The distance from the top of the roof to the sanctuary floor is 126 feet. |
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| Left, a view through the main entrance into the
cathedral. Twelve-foot-high wooden doors will be mounted here. CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE LIGHT PHOTOS |
Posters with
a watercolor rendition of the future Cathedral of Christ the Light now
hang in parishes throughout the Oakland Diocese. But visitors to the corner
of Grand Avenue and Harrison Street can see the real thing beginning to
rise more than 125 feet into the sky.
The wood and glass structure was designed by architect Craig Hartman.
He chose wood “as a means of creating a soaring, ennobling space
within an economy of means, using renewable resources.” The heavy,
tempered glass that will form the outer veil will “withstand the
wear of centuries,” he said.
In addition to the cathedral, the site will have a plaza with a landscaped
public garden of trees, plants and benches as well as a bookstore and
café. There will be offices for diocesan and parish staffs and
living space for the bishop and parish priests.
Construction officials remain confident that the cathedral and its allied
buildings will be ready by fall 2008.
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| A ladder is positioned where the baptismal font will be located directly inside the cathedral’s front doors and on an axis with the altar. Above the font will be a skylight window. The reliquary wall is visible to the left as are entry doors to several devotional spaces. |
