St. Vartan Cathedral--Building A Dream

During the first years Armenian communities were founded in America, their only places of worship were mostly basements or borrowed churches.  Armenians built our first real Church in Worcester, MA.  Over the years other congregations built additional churches.  But the Armenian community longed for a true Cathedral in America.

The late Catholicos Karekin Hovsepian conceived of the idea of an American cathedral when he was Primate of the Eastern Diocese.  In 1942, he introduced the idea to the wartime Diocesan Assembly, and after his election to Catholicos, the task was left to his successors.

In January 1945, with World War II not over yet, the Diocesan Assembly, meeting in Boston, officially decided to build a cathedral in New York City.  It would take the next generation to realize this dream and consecrate our magnificent cathedral.

Garnering Resources

Supporters who shared the  Catholicos' dream began to raise funds.  In 1946, at a dinner honoring Bishop Nersoyan's return form a visit to Soviet Armenia, a group of guests made the first $70,000 in donations.  Shortly after, a dinner for Armenian war veterans yielded pledges of $20,000 more.  But the fund-raising was interrupted by an emergency campaign to help Armenians who wished to return to Soviet Armenia. 

Then in the spring of 1947, Bishop Nersoyan launched the cathedral project anew in a radio appeal for contributions, pleading, "How long will the glory of our Church remain invisible in the air?"  The first poster appeared that May, and the campaign was back on.

An early treasury report in 1949 reported that donations totaled $235,213.  The projected cost at that time -- before the cathedral had been designed -- was $1 million.  But almost 20 years later, as construction was underway, the cost for the project had gone up because of inflation from $1 million to more than $3 million.

Finding a Site

The first parcels of land -- comprising 15,500 square feet ­ the Diocese actually purchased by 1949.  Church leaders chose this site, along Second Avenue in New York, for several reasons: the land, in an area of renewal spurred by construction of the United Nations complex nearby , was still reasonably priced; plans for a Second Avenue subway line, and easy access through the Midtown Tunnel to Long Island, made it convenient; and it was near the heart of the city's former Armenian quarter. 

The cost for the complete site, including 10 separate properties for a total of 25478 square feet, was $616,601.

Starting Construction

Demolition of the site begins in late April of 1958.  Six months later, the cornerstone of the Diocesan House was blessed by the Primate, Archbishop Sion Manoogian.  In January, 1959, the cornerstone was laid and the complete building was dedicated in November of that same year.

The Diocesan House, the first unit of the cathedral complex to be completed, was designed by architect Zareh Sourian and the firm of Eggers and Higgins.  The three-story building serves as the headquarters of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern).

A few years after the Diocesan House was completed, in 1963, the contract for design of the Cathedral and cultural center was awarded to New York architectural firm Steinman, Cain & White, with Edward Utudjian of Paris -- one of three architects entrusted with the restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem -- as a consultant.

Another two years went by as the architectural firm and financial plans were studied and revised.  Finally, on May 2, 1965, the cornerstone, designed and sculpted in Armenia, was laid by Archbishop Manoogian.  On October 21, 1967, the Gullabi Gulbenkian Cultural Center was dedicated, including its Haik and Alice Kavookjian Auditorium. 

Consecrating the Cathedral

Then, at long last, the new Armenian Cathedral of St. Vartan was consecrated on Sunday, April 28, 1968, by His Holiness, Vasken I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.