The main cathedral building underwent a facelift early this year to restore the gothic charm of its external façade. Carol Murugiah catches up with Sashi Sankaran, the Cathedral Building Board Member, on the restoration works that were recently carried out.
Being an historical landmark in the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur comes with the high expectation that its appearance and structure be kept in pristine condition as befitting its role as a popular tourist attraction.
Fortunately, this status also has its advantages, as there is a good chance of securing government funding for restoration work to maintain the beauty and timeless appeal of its external façade against the backdrop of other nearby historical sites in the city.
Thanks to government funding, the main building of St Mary’s Cathedral recently underwent a facelift. The restoration process began in the third quarter of 2015 and was completed by the early part of 2016.
The important task of overseeing the restoration works fell to the Cathedral Building Board Member, Sashi Sankaran, due to his professional background in engineering.
Sashi said the cost – a staggering RM500,000 – was fully borne by the National Heritage Department (Jabatan Warisan Negara) under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
The Cathedral’s Building Board Chairman, Dato’ Stanley Isaacs, persistently wrote to the Jabatan Warisan and the Tourism and Culture Minister, Dato’ Seri Mohammed Nazri Tan Sri Abdul Aziz. Finally, a meeting was arranged and during the meeting, the Minister agreed to source the funds to finance the project.
Since the National Heritage Department funded the works, the Department appointed its own contractor to undertake all the restoration work. However we were unable to give any direct input as the work was very specialised.
“We could only say if we were happy with the quality and progress,” explained Sashi, adding that conventional contractors were unable to carry out work on masonry structures, though regular meetings were held between the National Heritage Department, the Contractor and the Building Board to discuss progress.
Special Treatment
“This restoration cannot be done by conventional contractors because of the material. They needed to use a special paint imported from Italy because of the masonry structure of the Cathedral building, normal emulsions are not suitable,” Sashi added.
Furthermore, several water extraction devices had to be deployed to suck out water from the external walls which had deteriorated from constant exposure to the harsh weather.
“There was a lot of dampness in the walls. They first had to drill into the walls and put in tubes to extract the water before putting on the sealant to prevent future water damage. Only then could the painting work begin.”
The restoration work to the external façade also included repairing several doors, especially their timber frames, which had seen much wear and tear over the years.
Audio-Visual Upgrade
In a separate development, the various services within the Cathedral building as well as outreach centres also received a much-needed boost to their sound systems after the Cathedral Council approved the budget for an audio-visual (AV) upgrade.
“Because of the state of the previous sound system and wiring that has been there since the 1970s, the Audio-Visual team decided to start afresh with a completely new system,” said Caleb Raj, Director of Audio-Visual. Caleb said that the overhaul mainly focused on the main Cathedral building, which needed the most upgrading.
“But as we did up the Cathedral area, we recycled those items that were in good working condition to the other service areas such as ACA (Ascended Christ Anglican), the Lady Chapel, the Mentakab and Nepali outreach centres and the Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH) which also had its sound desk relocated.
“So generally, every service in the Cathedral received a good upgrade as a result of this,” he explained, adding that the installation of 70-inch TV screens at the Cathedral, the MPH and the ACA building boosted the ability to play videos and other media.
“Every congregation has given positive feedback on the improvements, as the sermons, speeches and music are clearer during the various services as a result of this upgrade. This enables people to participate better in the services.”
Although the Cathedral Council approved RM130,000 for the AV upgrade, the actual cost was well within the budget. As a result, the AV team is looking at what else can be done to boost the quality of the audio-visual system.
Caleb added that future plans to improve the audio-visual set up include a new remote-controlled camera system and acoustic treatment for the Cathedral to reduce the echoes bouncing off the walls of the old Victorian Gothic structure.
