Nicholas Donnelly and Sandy Toop are just two in the army of volunteers who have completed the painting of St Mary’s historic cathedral fence.
Painting of the fence commenced in April. It was begun with help from sailors from the USS Carl Vinson, a US Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, when it visited Perth earlier this year. Often, when US forces visit ports, volunteers are made available for local community works, coordinated through the US consulate in Perth.
Cathedral Supervisor Tony Meyrick said he was delighted with the effort put in to paint the fence.
“It wasn’t done during the recent refurbishment due to the lack of funds and has now been completed at a fraction of the cost if we had used commercial painters – I estimate less than 10 per cent,”
The iron fence dates back to at least 1936 when The Record reported on an official inspection of the completed grounds of the Cathedral.
Those present included Archbishop Prendiville, the Town Clerk, the City Engineer, the Town Planning Commissioner, the Cathedral Architect, the Government Botanist and the Contractors. In its report The Record noted that in place of the old wall which had done service for many decades a dwarf wall of carved Donnybrook stone surmounted by a light wrought iron fence had been erected.