The first Roman Catholic church in the colony was
St John's Pro-Cathedral on Victoria Avenue. The colony eventually outgrew this small church, and the local Bishop expressed an interest in constructing a "more worthy Cathedral". Because of labour and fund shortages, construction of the cathedral progressed slowly. Benedictine masons would walk daily between their monastery in Subiaco and the construction site. In January 1864, construction was suspended because of a lack of money. The cathedral's walls were built from clay bricks from a property in Adelaide Terrace. Architect
John Cyril Hawes described the proposed design as "bastard Gothic" and proposed instead a large
Romanesque cathedral. His plans were rejected, with the clergy instead opting for the Gothic design. In 1973, the central altar and lectern were added to the
sanctuary and the redesigned sanctuary was consecrated on 12 August 1973. In 1995 the
Heritage Council of Western Australia noted that the original 1865 portion of the structure was suffering from falling damp and cracking in the walls, and the mosaic floors in the sanctuary were also cracked. Further deterioration of the cathedral by the end of the 20th century meant that decisions had to be made in relation to the repair and completion of the original design.
Third stage: 1999 to present In mid-1999, after a bequest of $2 million by the estate of Jim and Alice Hassell, Also, it took longer than expected to source funds for the expansion, delaying commencement of the project. In the 2005–06 federal budget, $3 million was set aside for the expansion, and a $2 million grant was received from the state government. At this stage, the building was suffering from rising damp, a crumbling bell tower and structural weaknesses. The expansion project was overseen by the dean of the cathedral, Monsignor Thomas McDonald. The roof was then attached to a permanent steel structure. The new design includes increased seating for 1,600 people, a new underground parish centre and improved disabled access. It also adds a second spire to the church, which is not identical to the original spire because of a Heritage Council stipulation that the new spire not "shamelessly mimic" the existing one. The completed cathedral was officially opened by the Archbishop of Perth,
Barry Hickey, on 8 December 2009 in a ceremony attended by the apostolic nuncio as well as Cardinal
George Pell, 33 bishops and around 300 priests. The new design by Perth architect Peter M. Quinn won three architectural design awards from the Western Australian chapter of the
Australian Institute of Architects: The Jeffrey Howlett Award, the George Temple Pool award and the Margaret Pitt Morrison Award for Heritage. ==Gallery==