Notre-Dame Basilica unveils restored facade after decade of work

Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica unveiled its restored facade on Sunday, a milestone in a restoration that began about a decade ago and has been hidden behind scaffolding for years. Crews carried out extensive masonry repairs and conservation work on the exterior.

The Basilica plaza and the church's interior hosted the unveiling, with more than 800 guests expected. The Société philharmonique du Nouveau Monde, more than 150 musicians, performed Martín Palmeri's Misa Tango, under the artistic direction of Maestro Michel Brousseau, with an organ interlude by Jean-Willy Kunz.

The overall project covers the church's exterior and interior and is estimated at $100 million, funded through donations, fundraising campaigns and initiatives including the Le Firmament café on the plaza, run with Café Saint-Henri. HighOnCity reported in July that costs had soared to nearly $100 million, double an estimate from two years earlier, as workers found hidden structural damage.

Michel Issa, general manager of the Fabrique de la paroisse Notre-Dame de Montréal, said interior restoration could take another five to 10 years, with completion expected by 2035. The interior work includes conserving historic murals, which will be preserved rather than repainted.

Dinu Bumbaru, director of policy at Heritage Montréal, said a long timeline is normal for a monument of this kind. "We talk about natural heritage when we talk about the forest, but the greystone of Montreal is a natural feature that is used in buildings," he said, adding that the quarries that supplied comparable stone are closed and that skilled stoneworkers are increasingly scarce.