Work resumes on National Cathedral

Work has resumed at the site earmarked for the building of the National Cathedral, several  months after it was suspended due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.

Occupants of offices and houses at the site for the edifice, a 14.5-acre land next to the Parliament House, have all been evacuated and the buildings readied for demolition.

The last office to be evacuated was the old Passport Office, which has been relocated to another building on the same street at Ridge.

Observation

Yesterday, when the Daily Graphic visited the site, bulldozers were busy at work demolishing the buildings that had been earmarked for demolition.

Tipper trucks had also lined up to collect the debris from the demolition, while some workers serving as traffic wardens were seen directing traffic.

Background

The $100-million inter-denominational cathedral will have an auditorium capable of seating 5,000, as well as chapels and a baptistery.

The site will also house a music school, an art gallery and a museum dedicated to the Bible.

A board of trustees is supervising the construction.

The board, which was inaugurated in March 2017, is chaired by a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Most Rev. Samuel Asante Antwi, with the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, the Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, as Vice-Chairman.

The Founder and General Overseer of Power Chapel Worldwide, Prophet Victor Kusi Boateng, is the Secretary.

The National Cathedral was proposed by the government in March 2017 as a physical embodiment of national unity, harmony and spirituality.

The design for the cathedral was unveiled by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in March 2018.

He said at the time that the construction of the cathedral was in fulfilment of a promise he made to God in the run-up to the general election in 2016.

Work picked up in earnest in January 2020, with a fence wall bearing an artistic impression of the cathedral erected around the perimeter of the site.

A foundation stone signifying the commencement of construction work was laid on March 5, last year.ork was steadily picking up until the outbreak of the COVID-19, as a result of which work had to be put on hold.