Bishop James A. Griffin was born in Chicago to Irish parents and he grew up in a generation of Catholics who cherished their immigrant roots, yet identified themselves as 100 percent American. He also grew up in an atmosphere where Protestant Americans questioned the loyalty of Catholics because of their spiritual allegiance to the pope. The bishop wanted the cathedral church to be a statement about Catholic love of God and country, so he asked architect, Joseph McCarthy to design a building that people would readily identify as American.

McCarthy described the architectural style of the Cathedral as Greek Revival, because this style was closely associated with “America and American traditions.” For over 80 years people have continued to call the Cathedral design Greek Revival, but it would be more appropriate to say that the Cathedral was built according to the American Church Plan. This style is unique to the United States and by using it McCarthy was able to create a building that people could readily identify as American.

American Church Plan

Many of the first European settlers who came to America were religious dissenters, thus they did not want to worship in churches so they built Meeting Houses. When later settlers, who belonged to more traditional denominations, arrived, they built churches. When deciding what these buildings should look like, these early Americans turned to books to guide them. The most influential of these pattern books was written by Asher Benjamin, an American architect. In his book is a drawing for St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, which was designed by James Gibbs in 1726. The characteristics of this building show a rectangular box-like shape with a temple front — four columns with a triangular pediment on top — and a tall tower which had three stages. There are many variations of this basic design found throughout the United States and it has come to be known as the American Church Plan. The Cathedral was built along this same plan — it is rectangular shaped with a temple front and a multilevel tower.

Pediment

The entry to the Cathedral is formed by four Doric columns, which support a triangular pediment. On the face of the pediment is Bishop James A. Griffin’s coat-of-arms. To the left of the coat-of-arms is a scene depicting Bishop Griffin’s consecration, which occurred on February 25, 1924 at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. The scene to the right is of his installation, which took place three days later at Old St. Mary’s in Springfield. The design is the work of Leon Hermant of Chicago, who also created the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul in the interior.

Atrium Gathering Space

During the renovation, there was one significant change in the building complex. The original site consisted of four buildings: Cathedral, rectory, school, and convent, which was built to house the Dominican Sisters who ran the parish school.

The location of the Cathedral building in proximity to Sixth Street made expanding the existing narthex, or vestibule, impossible. It was decided that a gathering space of appropriate size for this large Cathedral would include a new larger atrium to welcome and extend the hospitality of the diocese and parish at an entrance to the Cathedral. This new multi-purpose space was placed between the Cathedral and the school in a location formerly occupied by a convent.

The new atrium/gathering space (72’ x 50’) faces a new east plaza at Sixth Street. In addition, the atrium provides pedestrian access from major parking areas to the west of the Cathedral. It includes new restroom facilities and new elevator access to all levels including parts of the school. The new atrium is clad with Mankato Stone, original stone of the cathedral complex and is unified architecturally with the original building complex.

The atrium is located on the same level as the Cathedral. It is connected to a ground level plaza by ramp allowing full accessibility to the church. Stairs and elevator at the west provide accessibility to the parking area.

The atrium includes an ornate coffered ceiling reflecting the design of the Cathedral building ceiling and includes colors and architectural design elements incorporated in the Cathedral. The atrium is connected to the Cathedral through an entrance which was originally the Shrine of St. Thérèse, of Lisieux, the Little Flower. This entrance leads to a transverse aisle which meets the main aisle of the church at the baptismal font, symbolizing the entrance into the faith through baptism to the Eucharist.

The atrium space includes state-of-the-art sound and video systems for conferencing, meetings, dinners, and other diocesan and parish activities. A new western entrance is approached by landscaped walkway from the parking areas.

The northeastern plaza, in front of the rectory and north of the church, has been constructed with a landscaped green and lowered to the level of sidewalk and street to give more openness to the complex in the northeast corner and providing a better visual expression of the Cathedral building and its front portico and porch.

Narthex

One enters the Cathedral through three broad doors into the narthex, or vestibule. The vestibule is lined with Vert Corail Claire marble, which remains today. During the renovation, the ceiling was redecorated and both sets of doors were refinished. New handicap-accessible bathrooms were added to either side of the narthex.

Landscaping

The Cathedral site has been changed to make the buildings more prominent and to communicate a welcoming spirit through larger gathering areas and increased accessibility to the Cathedral building. The porch of the eastern portico was extended on the north and west sides to make it more prominent. Ramps were added to the north and south sides of the Cathedral entrance for increased handicap accessibility.

The two plazas on the eastern side of the Cathedral were originally high grass areas bordered by tall fences – in effect private garden areas. The fences were removed and the areas were lowered to street level to broaden the entrance to the Cathedral in a more welcoming fashion. The northeast plaza was landscaped and a bosk of trees was added to soften the corner. The central plaza was landscaped with ornamental trees and shrubbery.

Additional landscaping in the form of ornamental trees, shrubs, and ground cover is provided on the western perimeter of the cathedral complex to complement new parking areas. The existing school playground has been reincorporated at the southern end of the Fifth Street parking area.

Floorplan