100-year-old trees on ‘priority’ National Cathedral site relocated

The construction of the National Cathedral of Ghana, which will provide an interdenominational sacred space for the nation, “remains a national priority”, the government has indicated.

“Despite delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, work is on course to construct the iconic edifice in the heart of the nation’s capital”, caretaker Finance Minister Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu announced to Parliament on Friday, 12 March 2021 when he presented this year’s budget and economic statement.

The construction of the National Cathedral, he said, “is already introducing some critical innovations to the country”.

“As part of the construction, over 200 trees on the site of the Cathedral, some of which are nearly 100 years, have been relocated to a temporary site by Department of Parks and Gardens”.

“Some of the trees would be brought back upon completion of the Cathedral, and others replanted elsewhere making edifice environmentally sustainable”.

The cathedral will be situated within 14 acres of newly landscaped gardens adjacent to the Osu Cemetery.

It will house a series of impressive chapels, a baptistery, a 5000-seat two-level auditorium, a grand central hall, music school, choir rehearsal, art gallery, shop and multi-use spaces.

It will also be home to Africa’s first Bible Museum and Documentation Centre, dedicated to Christianity and nation-building in Ghana.

For the interiors, architects Adjaye Associates will collaborate with some of the most-celebrated and progressive Ghanaian and African artists to create the cathedral’s religious adornment and furnishings.

A new ceremonial route and landscape will be linking the Cathedral site to Ghana’s prominent, celebratory landmarks – Independence Square, Osu Cemetery, the State House and Africa Unity Circle.