Hamilton
Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Vladimir
855 Barton Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
July 11, 1954, the day of the official opening of the Church, The Hamilton Spectator described St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as follows:
“ . . . a glittering structure with five golden towering domes . . . which together with other numerous architectural embellishments make St. Vladimir’s a triumph of Ukrainian architecture.”
It took six years to achieve this distinction. The design of the lower portion of the church was that of Architect George Billson. Construction began in April 1948 and was completed that year. However, when in 1952 the congregation of St. Vladimir was ready to begin construction of the upper portion, G. Billson’s design
(right photo) was rejected and Yurii Kodak’s design (left photo) was accepted as it reflected the desired traditional eastern Orthodox church style. The new design was not only new in the appearance, but in structure as well. The side projections were extended so that the building took on the traditional shape of a cross. The roof dimensions had to be recalculated and redesigned to carry the load of a large central dome open to the interior, and four other smaller cupolas.
The January 1953 contract between the church Building Committee and G. Kodak specified that George (Yurii) Kodak was to provide the plans and specifications, and was to supervise all work connected with the plans. Completed July 1954, the cost of the upper portion of the church was $154,432. Except for specialized trades, most of the work was done by volunteer labour.
G. Kodak made wide use of decorative precast concrete to achieve the baroque richness of the Kyivan church style. The interior detailing on columns and crown moulding continue the baroque style. Similar baroque features were incorporated into the church iconostas designed by G. Kodak, installed and consecrated in 1962 (see details in Iconostases Section).
In 1991, the congregation turned to Yurii once again for a design for the front doors to the church. His design of St. Volodymyr and Knyahynia Olha was accepted. The doors were fashioned and executed in bronze in Kyiv, by Michael Andreyovych Dmitriv.
The four bronze panels were transported to Canada and installed posthumously in 1993. St. Vladmir’s church was Yurii’s first Canadian architectural work, and the doors for this church were his last ecclesiastical artistic achievement.
Below are photographs of the work done during the construction of the church.
N.B. In 1980 the Church was raised to the status of cathedral and the name was changed to Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Vladimir. This is the name on the website. However, Facebook uses the name St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral. In the 1950s, the letter head was St. Vladimir Ukrainian Greek-Orthodox Church.