before its elevation in late 2025. (Catholic Herald photo/Graham Mueller)
Noticeable to passersby on Atwood Ave. and the adjacent Corry St., major changes are well underway at St. Bernard Church in Madison and work has been progressing steadily since it began in the first quarter of the year.
St. Bernard, the Vatican-approved future seat of the diocese, is undergoing major renovations inside and outside the church in preparation for its cathedral dedication in late 2025.
Beautifying the church
Since April, when the new concrete floor was poured, work inside the church has taken important steps.
The concrete has cured, scaffolding is assembled, and recently, painters have begun working onsite for the first time.
The team of five navigates scaffolding that reaches up to the church’s ceiling and stretches the full length of the sanctuary.
Working together, painters have been slowly beautifying the space.
In these first few weeks of work, the team has spent most of their time evaluating and fixing degraded plaster and other elements, sketching paint plans on the sanctuary’s walls and ceiling, and slowly but surely beginning to make sketches come to life.
Already, a few ceiling arches and adjoining walls are painted.
The ceiling arches are especially noticeable for their beautiful blue and pink flowers, whereas the upper walls feature various shades of cyan, adorned with gold foil.
On walls closer to the ground, a crisscross pattern of light blue on darker blue has taken shape.
Paul Lang, chair of the diocesan building commission, is actively managing the cathedral project, and where the eye might fail, Lang helped fill in some of the important, yet difficult aspects to see.
One detail Lang pointed out was that, hidden within all the scaffolding, the posts of the sanctuary are already set.
Another was much more difficult to see.
Lang pointed to a trench in the concrete, which encased “a hearing aid loop all the way around the perimeter of the church and down the middle.”
“Even those with hearing aids who want to sit at the back but can’t hear naturally — they’ll be able to hear everything, just as if they were sitting up front,” Lang continued.
He also mentioned work completed for the choir loft.
The choir loft, which is to be extended almost an additional third of its original length over the nave, “will be quite a generous area,” explained Lang.
Recently, studs were set, marking where the loft will eventually be extended, and preliminary work has begun.
When it’s complete, “all of the diocesan and St. Bernard choir will now be able to go up there [together],” Lang continued, explaining that without accompanying instruments, the loft will be able to hold 80 singers.
Lastly, Lang pointed to the church’s many stained glass windows, or rather, their noticeable absence.
Throughout the church, there are several “open glass” windows, which have temporarily replaced the beautiful stained-glass originals.
Lang was happy to share that where there is open glass, “Those windows have been taken and they’re being restored.”
Major construction outside
Even before entering the inside of St. Bernard, a picture of the renovation’s magnitude is on display.
Earlier this month, heavy machinery was moving soil and gravel all around the church’s grounds, which made traversing the area, at times, dangerous.
A chain-link fence has been constructed around the church.
A “No Trespassing” sign is displayed at the main gate’s entrance.
All of this, Lang says, is to protect people from wandering on or across the grounds as the new parking lot is constructed.
It’s an ongoing effort that Lang describes as “a battle” because for weeks now, the construction team has been working to replace subgrade soil — the soil that forms a foundation, underneath pavement.
Unfortunately, soil around the church is more often clay than the rich, black dirt usually associated with Wisconsin, and the team has needed to excavate the clay, lay gravel interwoven with geogrid fabric, and compact it, to create a suitable foundation before pavement is laid.
It’s created delays, but other outside areas have been able to make progress.
One example is progress on the church’s porte-cochère, which Lang explained as an overhang that protects passengers from the elements as they exit their vehicle and enter the church.
Lang made note that porte-cochère foundations were ready to be laid, but “it’s just that rebar manufacturing isn’t ready for us, so it’s taking us until the [end of the week]” to make progress.
“We’ve had a number of delays out here, which has created the obvious delays for me, but we work through those,” Lang said.
Fundraising for the project
Chief Development Officer for the Diocese of Madison Paul Merline said, “Fundraising for the renovation and elevation project at St. Bernard’s has been encouraging.”
“Our fundraising target for work on the church and rectory has remained steady at $15 million. All in, more than $10 million has already been raised/pledged, largely through focused outreach to individual donors and families keenly interested in bringing a cathedral back to the diocese.
“Of that amount, more than $3 million has come from St. Bernard parishioners, with another $1.1 million coming from the transfer of a fund for the old St. Raphael’s Cathedral held at the Catholic Diocese of Madison Foundation.
“But there is still considerable fundraising work to be done. Planning continues on the cathedral parish center, a mausoleum for deceased past and future bishops from the diocese, and a steeple to sit atop the current tower at the church. The hope is to begin work on these features immediately after completion of the church and rectory,” he continued.
Recently, a direct mail outreach effort was sent to parishioners across the diocese, with Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison encouraging support for the cathedral project.
Bishop Hying said in a recent column, “Every diocese has a cathedral, often historic and well-established, so the opportunity to create a new one is an extremely rare occurrence. We are blessed in this remarkable moment to witness and support the building of [ours].”
Anecdotally, both the bishop and Merline have shared that cathedral project donors say, “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“Focused connections with individual donors and families will also continue throughout the building effort,” Merline added.
To the right, a prayer for the cathedral project is displayed.
To learn more and to give to the project, visit madisoncathedral.org.