The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-06-24

which is not included in this years
contract, and the roof of the Apse and
; of the Sanctuary.
Ample provisions are being made to
accommodate all who patronize this
festival. The main portion of the
building with floor area of 80 by 140
feet is being set apart for the comfort
and convenience of visitors. 1t will
be fitted up as bazaar with booths
and rest rooms and large restaurant,
while public comfort stations will be
provided on the grounds. A large stage
will be erected at one end where first
class entertainments will be offered
and an orchestra will discourse sweet
music, morning, noon, and night. The
building and the surrounding grounds
will be brilliantly Illuminated and de-
corated. A grandstand will be erec-
ted on the Hennepin Avenue side of
the Church and will command an ad-
vantageous view of the route along
which the great Civic Parades will
pass.
Description of the Pro-cathedral.
Some idea of the magnitude of the
Pro- Cathedral project may be cleaned
from the following description of it
prepared by the Architect, Mr. E. L.
Masqueray, who is, also, the architect
of the new Cathedral of st. Paul.
In preparing plans for the Pro-
Cathedral of the Immaculate Concep-
tion, Minneapolis, conditions some
what different from those in st. Paul
had to be taken into consideration.
The grounds are much larger in
proportion to the area needed for the
building, the required seating capacity
is also much less. For these reasons it
was deemed best to work on different
lines from those of the Greek Cross"
plan, of the st. Paul Cathedral The
great churches of Aquitaine and Peri
cord, with their wide naves, were in
spected, and it was found that a mod
ern design on the same general lines
would be aesthetically appropriate
and well adapted to modern religious
conditions in the United States Those
French churches, the finest examples
of which are the Cathedrals of Abb
and Cahors, give an impression of un-
surpassed grandeur and simplicity.
AS the ground plan of the Pro-Ca-
thedral shows, the main nave, eighty
feet wide and one hundred and thirty
five feet long, affords the whole con-
gregation an unobstructed view of the
sanctuary. The length of the nave is
divided into five bays, the lower part
of which is occupied by two arches
opening into ambulatories. Above are
very large double windows The
piers at the corners of the sanctuary
carry the four large arches supporting
the dome at a height of one hundred
and fifty feet, directly over the altar
The ambulatories on each side of the
sanctuary lead to the apse, where the
chapel of the Blessed Virgin, the pa
tron saint of the Pro-Cathedral, is
placed. Over the large entrance ves-
tfbule is the organ and the music gal
lery, which will accommodate a choir
of two hundred. The outside of the
building is sincere attempt at archi-
tectural expression of the interior,
showing plainly the main divisions of
the structure, entrance, nave and
sanctuary. On the facade over the
porch is a rose-Window framed by two
bell towers rising to a height of one
hundred and thirty feet. A similar
rose-window appears on each side of
the sanctuary, above which is the
dome surmounted by figure of the
Blessed Virgin.
The general dimensions of the pro-
cathedral are one hundred and forty
feet wide by two hundred and seven
ty-four feet in length. The material
used is a beautiful white granite from
Vermont.
The two Catholic cathedrals will be,
when completed, noteworthy achieve
ments in church building for any per-
iod; in extent and splendor they
promise to surpass anything yet at
tempted in ecclesiastical work in the
United States. The st. Paul Cathe-
though hardly as to size and costli-
ness of interior, in the Philadelphia
Cathedral of S. Peter and Paul, de-
signed by Napoleon lie Brun more
than fifty years ago. The other, the
ro-Cathedral of the Immaculate Con-
ception, is quite unlike any other
American church that can be called to
mind. The two Minnesota churches
are identical In length, though that at
st. Paul has greater breadth and
bulk; its dome, also, is much the larg-
er and more pretentious of the two.