National Cathedral will reopen Nov. 12, but repairs to go on for years

The earthquake-damaged National Cathedral in Washington will reopen to visitors and worshipers Nov. 12 after spending $25 million on initial repairs. Officials at the Episcopal church warn it may take “tens of millions” of dollars more and numerous years to restore and fix the building.

An online statement from cathedral officials says the need to stabilize parts of the building, including some towers, was why it took so long to reopen. But this building is used to long construction periods -- it took 80 years to complete after the cornerstone was laid in 1907.

Where will the millions for ongoing repairs come from? Contributions collected nationwide -- or so folks at the cathedral hope. And some donations have already started coming in. The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington gave $25,000 to the effort.

The cathedral has been closed since a magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook the capital and much of the East Coast on Aug. 23. In early September, a crane used in the repairs toppled over, crushing cars and damaging some buildings on the site but sparing the church further damage.

The Washington Monument, another landmark damaged in the quake, remains closed while engineers continue to assess cracks and any other problems with the stone structure.