Cleveland, April 2, 2025
Photo: wkyc.com
Restoration work continues at the Orthodox Church in America’s St. Theodosius Cathedral in Cleveland nearly a year after a 
Campaign launched to fund restorations at fire-damaged Cleveland cathedralA massive fire broke out at the church on May 28, especially damaging the central dome, which has since had to be completely dismantled.
“>devastating fire severely damaged the roof, and especially the central dome.
However, the work is proving to be much more expensive than initially anticipated.
“I don’t think we’re going to have enough,” Parish Council President Denise Pozderac told WKYC 3 in Cleveland. Bids on restoring just the interior—plaster, frescoes, etc.—are as much as $4–5 million, she said. And that’s not even counting the replacement of the roof and central dome.
There was much more damage to the roofing systema than initially thought, Pozderac said.
For now, the church is covered by a temporary roof and the faithful are meeting in the church hall next door.
Restoration efforts so far have been covered by insurance and help from the community.
“For us, it’s our home. It’s not just a church, just a building,” Pozderac said. The hope is for the cathedral to reopen by April 2026.
“For whatever reason this happened, and I look at it as a challenge to do the right thing, to give the glory to God, and to do my best as Parish Council President to hold the community together.”
Between tithe.ly and GoFundMe campaigns, the cathedral has raised just over $142,000 of the $1 million goal.
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