Two-year restoration of St Andrew's Cathedral done

Strong turnout for service on Christmas Eve after nave opens for first time since 2022

- Esther Loi and Ng Keng Gene

For the first time in almost two years, the nave, or central section, of St Andrew's Cathedral opened its doors for service on the night of Christmas Eve.

People started queueing to enter the building from 8pm, two hours before service was set to begin, said the Reverend Christopher Chan, the acting vicar of the cathedral in the civic district.

"We had an overflow of people attending the Christmas Eve service, so we even had to direct them to watch a live stream of the service from alternative venues within the cathedral... The (turnout) was way beyond the typical attendance numbers," he added.

Some 1,400 people showed up for the Christmas Eve service, though the nave can hold only about 500 people.

Built in 1861, the nave of the cathedral had been closed for extensive restoration works since January 2022. These entailed plaster repairs, painting, electrical works, lightning protection installation and structural checks, as well as cleaning.

The Straits Times previously reported that these works cost about $6 million.

Gazetted as a national monument in 1973, the cathedral is the oldest surviving Anglican place of worship in Singapore.

For the past one year and 11 months, worship services were held at two other venues on the cathedral's premises, as the nave could not be accessed due to full height scaffolding.

Preparation for the restoration works began as far back as in 2016, as the cathedral decided to repair certain wall areas where the plaster showed signs of visible deterioration.