GARY – Nestled in the heart of Gary, residents and visitors can spot the steeple of the Cathedral of the Holy Angels along the intersection of 5th Street and Tyler Street. During recent months, the view of the church has looked a little different as scaffolding went up around the building to complete some needed work on its exterior walls.
The work being done currently at the cathedral is twofold. First, Restore Works out of Griffith is performing a complete exterior deep cleaning of all stone, along with tuckpointing of the entire stone exterior. Diocese of Gary’s manager of operations, David Moore, explained that this work is crucial to correcting water infiltration that has been occurring for several years.
“It has started to cause some internal damage to the plaster due to wind-driven rains, not to mention the need to sustain the overall integrity of the entire structure,” he said.
Scaffolding was needed so that the technicians could get from ground level to the very top of the stonework. This work has not been done since the cathedral was built and dedicated in 1950. Over the years, dirt from the mills and other industrial businesses settled in the corners of the church building. This portion of the project is anticipated to be completed by the end of July 2026.
In addition, the diocese is also having all the stained glass completely restored by Botti Studios out of Evanston, Ill. This involves repairs and replacement of the frames (where needed), replacement of all the exterior plexi panels/caulk – which are yellowed and deteriorated – with real glass, an interior window venting system, re-leading, repairs and cleaning of all the stained glass.
This repair work is necessary to restore the building’s integrity after some water infiltration caused by the compromised exterior panels and failed caulking. This will be done in two phases. Phase one includes all the windows on the west and north sides of the cathedral and is projected to be completed this summer or early fall. Phase two will include the windows on the south and east sides.
The diocese obtained funds to help complete the recent tuckpointing project through a grant from Indiana Landmarks. Applications through its Sacred Places Indiana initiative were highly competitive; however, the diocese was selected from more than 50 applicants to receive a $400,000 capital grant.
Chief Financial Officer Kathy Tomasik, who completed the application, was aware of the grant opportunities available through her attendance at the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference. She was also aware that St. Stanislaus Kostka in Michigan City had received funding from the organization for some restoration work in recent years.
“As a company, they've done some really great work, and I'm really excited,” she said.
Tomasik noted that a condition of receiving the grant is attending a two-day training workshop. At the workshop, the organization presented what they recommend in the restoration of each project, gave details on how to report progress and provided tips on how to fundraise in the community to help pay for the difference.
“It was really enlightening,” Tomasik said. “Other grant recipients were there, and it was very interesting.”
The organization also helped ensure a mortar analysis was done to match the original colors of the cathedral’s exterior. The previous rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Angels, Father Michael Surufka, OFM, stated he believed it would become a lighter gray, but the cleaning revealed it was a more sandy color.
Father Surufka, who helped spearhead the need for the restorative work, said while the cathedral did not look “bad” from the outside, he noticed the plaster inside the walls was getting chalky and starting to peel. A contractor had told him that “patches” had been made to some areas already up to four times.
“It was the mortar,” Father Surufka explained. “What happens is water that’s in stone, when it rains, will work its way in and sneak around behind the stone and doesn’t get a chance to evaporate with the sunlight.”
Eileen Wayte, administrative assistant at the cathedral, confirmed the cleaning and tuckpointing of the Church is important not only for aesthetic reasons, but because the church has sprung some leaks and there are other internal issues between the stone and the plaster that would lead to further internal damage in the walls.
“I believe the last work done at the Cathedral was the remodeling that Bishop (Dale) Melczek approved in 1997 along with the addition of the annex,” she said.
The current Cathedral of the Holy Angels was built in the late 1940s with no real major infrastructure improvements since then.
The diocese is also looking to the future and considering installing permanent air conditioning in the cathedral.
“This has been quite a challenge because of the type of construction of the cathedral itself,” Moore said.
“It does not make for an easy installation of a cooling system and presents some very difficult challenges to keep the integrity and cosmetics of the structure intact.”
Moore said the diocese is continuing to work with engineers on the potential of adding air conditioning. If it can accomplish this, it would not happen until sometime next year.
