Bishop gets earful on new Cathedral

Oakland Tribune ^ | 08 May 2004 | Peggy Stinnett

[ninenot]

sum of all heresies

Headed, I suppose, by the Cardinal of the Kremlin?

Good one, CoD...

[ninenot]

Cummins was a bad guy and it's no surprise that the design is somewhat wacky.

It's too bad that Vigneron seems to have inherited this and also seems to be stuck with it.

On the other hand, if you read the thread-head news article closely, the reporter indicates that Vigneron is treating this whole thing with almost a studied diffidence---which makes sense. He put up a perfunctory defense and left for Rome.

[ninenot]

Not a nuke plant. Nuke plants have nice domes over the top--and actually look more like Byzantine cathedrals...

[AndyJackson]

While $131 million does seem a tad high,

How many people live in the Bay Area? How much annual income exists in the Bay area? What is the total amount of money spent on social services in the Bar Area? How much is spend on a sports stadium? $131 Million is a paltry sum of money. It isn't a dent on any of those numbers.

I used to live in Oakland. It ought to be embarassing that one of the prettiest locations in the center of one of the wealthiest areas of the country still suffers from Urban blight. Given Oakland's centrality to tranportation and industry it ought to have become a crown jewel. This location on Grand Avenue is a fabulous location and building a cathedral to inspire a sense of the wonder of God is to be commended.

[miltonim]

[MegaSilver]

This location on Grand Avenue is a fabulous location and building a cathedral to inspire a sense of the wonder of God is to be commended.

Not THIS Cathedral.

[MegaSilver]

Calatrava's Milwaukee Art Museum is now featured on a national Toyota Motor Co. advertisement. It is really quite a beautiful structure.

Mmm... I dunno. The inside's okay, but it's all just a little too "space agey" for me.

[The Iguana]

It's very striking.

But it's not a Catholic cathedral.

[The Iguana]

I agree; it's just about the ugliest "Cathedral" design I've ever laid eyes on. It's even worse than the Taj Mahoney.

Which would be no mean feat.

I'm not sure. As bizarre as this design is, it is hard to surpass the boxy airplane hangar-mated-with-rec center ambiance of the Taj Mahoney.

But it's bad enough. Looks like a Richard Vosko wet dream. Vigneron should have scrapped the plans immediately and place a call to Dino Marcantonio if he was serious about having a new cathedral.

At least Marcantonio would build something that looked like a Catholic church and at a fraction of the price.

[pbear8]

ROTFLOL!!

[steve86]

But God also gave us the gifts of creativity and artisticism. Why not make something beautiful to consecrate unto Him?

No argument with that. Is is just the allocation of capital (financial and spiritual) that requires responsible stewardship.

[ninenot]

"Space Agey?" Remember, we're dealing with an Art Museum and the associated types who sit on those Boards.

It's an addition to the Saarinen-designed original building, put up in the (?) 1960 timeframe. And since it is on Lake Michigan, the idea was to get a sailboat-kinda image.

I think it worked. But it also sucked dry the arts-donor community up here when it went overbudget--and damn near sank the Milwaukee Symphony as a result.

De gustibus non disputandum est.

[Aquinasfan]

Several who spoke said the $131 million price tag for building the cathedral complex should instead be spent on the poor and homeless as taught by Jesus Christ and the Bible.

Uh, that's what Judas said, not Jesus.

Unfortunately, this church design is awful.