More Than $200 Million, and the Roof Still to Come: Guyana’s Wooden Cathedral Completes a Major Rehab

• A multi-year restoration of St George’s Cathedral in Georgetown was completed in October 2020
• The total cost was put at more than $200 million, with the diocese paying $177 million
• The National Trust and private donors, including Banks DIH, covered the rest
• Restoring the main roof is still to be done, at an estimated $150 million

Guyana’s Anglican Church has finished the largest phase of work yet on one of the Caribbean’s most remarkable church buildings. Stabroek News reported on 2 November 2020 that the major rehabilitation of St George’s Cathedral, at Church Street and North Road in Georgetown, had been completed in October 2020, more than five years after the project was launched.

The cathedral, designed by the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield, opened on 24 August 1892 and was completed in 1899. Standing 143 feet tall, it is described as the largest wooden cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. The restoration project was initiated on 26 April 2015 by the late Rt Reverend Cornell Moss, and construction began in 2017. Bishop Charles Davidson now leads the Anglican Diocese of Guyana and Suriname.

The bill was substantial. According to the report, the total came to more than $200 million, of which the Diocese of Guyana and Suriname itself contributed $177 million. The National Trust of Guyana and private donors, among them the beverage company Banks DIH, made up the balance. The work covered the restoration of exterior and interior walls, the cleaning and restoration of the cathedral undercroft, replacement of asbestos ceilings, electrical and lighting upgrades, and repainting throughout.

Carlton Joao, a sales and marketing executive at Banks DIH, spoke of what the project meant to him. “Today I am a proud Guyanese. I have had the privilege to be a part of a wonderful team which has worked to restore the center piece of our Built Heritage,” he said. Yet the job is not over: the main roof still needs restoring, at an estimated cost of $150 million, and a protective fence is also planned.

The story shows the scale of the financial burden that comes with owning a historic church. Even with state heritage support and corporate donors, the congregation’s own diocese carried the lion’s share of the cost, and the most expensive single element, the roof, was left for a later phase.

Jamaica faces the same arithmetic. Its colonial-era parish churches, cathedrals and chapels, many listed as national heritage sites, need roofs, timber and masonry work that can run into tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. The Guyana model of pairing diocesan money with the national heritage trust and named corporate partners offers one route. For Jamaicans in the diaspora who give to home churches, it is also a reminder that restoration is rarely a single appeal: major buildings are saved in phases, over years, and planned giving often matters more than a one-off donation.

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