Lockdown has made the prospects of St Paul’s Cathedral closing forever a more likely future for the cultural powerhouse.
The iconic Anglican church currently faces complete closure due to reduced ticket sales. A lack of tourists due to COVID-19 restrictions has made it so yearly running costs cannot be met, even with extra government funds put in place.
According to the BBC, the government’s culture recovery fund provided £3.3m towards the cathedral, which is not enough for the annual running cost of £8m.
Rev Dr David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s, told the BBC: “If we can’t raise the resources to be able to employ the people to look after the building and pay for the heating and lighting, we would have to shut our doors,”
“We have to plan and it’s irresponsible for me not to consider all the options but I’m going to do everything in my power – and I know that the cathedral is here to make sure we find an answer to the problem we face,”
For many, St Paul’s Cathedral is a tourism and cultural powerhouse for the country. It one of the most famous venues known for holding many events and art collections.
For example, it is known to have held peace services at the end of the First and Second world wars, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, Victorian mosaics and the memorials of several iconic British people.
St Paul’s is scheduled to reopen on the 17th of May alongside other places. You can go to stpauls.co.uk to book an admission.
