‘Restoration celebration’ to conclude Cathedral restoration project three years in the making

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Since its launch in March of 2023, the Restored in Christ project brought together the efforts of more than 2,000 donors with the mission of preserving Covington’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption. Now, more than three years later, the project has reached its conclusion — with repairs made to the Cathedral’s stonework and windows and new chimera and gargoyles proudly perched on the perimeter, ensuring the longevity of the historic Covington landmark and beloved church.

To tie together the project’s closing and celebrate its successes, a “restoration celebration” is planned to follow the Cathedral’s 4:30 Mass, August 15. Invited to the celebration were all 2,000 donors to the project, along with parishioners of the Cathedral.

Coming together, guests to the celebration will enjoy a catered dinner at the adjacent Covington Latin School, tours of the newly planted Marian Garden and restored Cathedral grounds and a showing of a 20-minute short film highlighting the Cathedral titled “The Salvation of Souls.”

“It’s going to be a beautiful video,” commented Jim Hess, director of Stewardship and Mission for the Diocese of Covington, who took on this project as one of his first after becoming director. “It’s a video that the Cathedral can use forever,” he said, as the video divulges the Cathedral’s history and mission. Following the celebration, the film will be available on the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption’s website (https://covcathedral.com) as well for public viewing.

In addition to this, donors and parishioners alike are being welcomed to contribute to another celebratory aspect of the project’s conclusion. Inside the new statue of the Cathedral’s Marian courtyard, a time capsule will be placed, with notes from contributors to be stored inside for future generations.

“I love the symbolism of that as well,” said Mr. Hess. “Mary is protecting the watching over and taking care of these people that contributed to this work.”

While Mr. Hess has experience with many capital campaigns, he commented that campaigns that are not directly ‘building something new’ can be hard to raise funds for.

“This project was unique,” he said, with more than $8 million of purely restoration work to be raised.

“This was truly a brick and mortar campaign,” Mr. Hess said, “which sometimes is difficult to raise money for because people like supporting new initiatives, new ideas. But this was more focused on taking care of the Cathedral for future generations, and I was amazed by how generous people were.” Even people who did not belong to the Cathedral parish or had ties to it contributed, seeing as they “realized the importance of this work for generations to come.”