Photos: left: courtesy archdiocesan archives; above: peter rosengren
One of Perth’s oldest buildings, St John’s Pro-Cathedral on Victoria Avenue in East Perth has received a grant of $59,000 from Lotterywest to ensure it can be preserved.
It is the third and largest Conservation of Cultural Heritage grant the Pro-Cathedral has received from Lotterywest, which has given more than $95,000 over the past eight years. The grant was approved by Premier Colin Barnett in April 2012 and will be used to pay for urgently needed restoration building work.
Lotterywest gave $9,000 and $25,000 in April 2004 and 2005 respectively to prepare a conservation plan and to pay for roof works to waterproof the building. A spokesperson from Lotterywest said the Commission values the State’s unique heritage and provides grants to conserve, protect, explain and share various aspects of our heritage.
The Pro-Cathedral is the second oldest building in the Perth CBD and was originally named the Church of St John the Evangelist on December 27, 1843.
A Pro-Cathedral is the cathedral that is used by a community before the official cathedral is built.
Perth had an official Cathedral since May 6, 1845, the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist (the now
Pro-Cathedral), which was re-named the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on June 17, 1855. This name was transferred to the then-newly built cathedral on the hill on January 29, 1865. Its nickname St Mary’s Cathedral was adopted on May 4, 1930 and has been used every since.
Perth’s first Catholic bishop, John Brady, oversaw the laying of the foundation stone of the Pro-Cathedral on January 16, 1844, the year before Perth became a diocese.
The-then Fr Brady spoke at the ceremony where a trench was dug and the first foundation stone was laid; parishioners placed money and pledges on the stone to help pay for the Pro-Cathedral.
Renovations on the building, which is fondly known by some as “the cathedral of many names”, will begin in October this year.