The Cathedral of the Madeleine

History:

Under the leadership of the Right Reverend Lawrence Scanlan (1843 - 1915), the first bishop of Salt Lake, the construction of The Cathedral of the Madeleine was begun in the year 1900 and completed in 1909. On August 15 of that year, the cathedral was dedicated by Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore. The architects were Carl M. Newhausen and Bernard O. Mecklenburg. The cathedral combines a predominately Romanesque exterior with a Gothic interior. The property on which the cathedral sits was purchased in 1890 for $35,000. The cost of the cathedral construction itself was $344,000.

The exterior of the cathedral remains substantially the same today as it was in 1909, except for the addition of a tympanum over the main doors and the double flight of steps leading to the main entrance. Renovations on the exterior took place between 1975 and 1980 under the leadership of The Most Reverend Joseph Lennox Federal, sixth bishop of Salt Lake City. These including putting a new copper roof on the building, protecting the porous Utah sandstone from further erosion and restoring the gargoyles.