Green Bay cathedral's $2.7 million renovation is on schedule, impressive

Interior renovations at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral are underway, on schedule and, as one project leader puts it, starting to "bring the church to life more and more every day."

The cathedral, the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, closed in September to make way for interior upgrades that cap off a $2.7 million series of restorations that began with exterior work two years ago.

The work includes restoring 11 large oil paintings, replacing the floors, refurbishing the pews, and cleaning and rebuilding the main pipe organ. Other small projects include redoing or retouching stencil work on walls and cleaning and repainting archways.

Steve Motl, volunteer project leader and a 10-year member of the parish, said the renovations are happening simultaneously and each project is about 70 to 80 percent complete. Currently, the pews are removed and have sent out to be refurbished — complete with new, permanent cushions — and work is nearly complete on new tile flooring.

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