By Michael D. Lampen, Grace Cathedral Archivist
Introduction
With the unexpected death of George W. Bodley in 1907, plans for Grace Cathedral were put on hold. (See Cathedral of the Far West I -- The Centennial of the First Grace Cathedral Design). Without Bodley's meticulous and expert guidance, it seemed unlikely that work could proceed. Yet Bodley's confidence in his assistant and eventual partner, Cecil G. Hare (1843-1923), persuaded Bishop Nichols and the cathedral clergy and trustees to put their trust in him. Although Hare was of the next generation of English neo-Gothic architects- Thomas Garner (Bodley's first partner), John Oldrid Scott and (English-born) Henry Vaughan- the exterior of his design actually looked ahead to works of the third generation- Giles Gilbert Scott, Edward Maufe, and others. Overall effect won out over archaeological correctness, and detail became secondary to massing of space and economy of line.
Hare completed and submitted his first drawings in February 1909. He did not change the location or orientation of Bodley's Grace Cathedral design, but envisioned a more massive Neo-Gothic cathedral that had much in common with preliminary ideas for Liverpool Cathedral. Bodley had been senior architect over Giles Gilbert Scott on early Liverpool Cathedral designs, and their rocky relationship revealed an unbridgeable generation gap. Hare learned much from the encounter and, following Bodley's death, embraced some of Scott's ideas. In Hare's Grace Cathedral design, Bodley's spires disappeared, and the façade towers became more French Gothic in style. Bodley's conventional central tower was replaced by a massive central tower-lantern that dominated the design, and was likely chosen for seismic strength. Hare also minimized the clerestory, which almost vanished, and enlarged aisle windows, admitting in more light.
Hare's design was accepted by Bishop Nichols and the cathedral authorities. Thick concrete retaining walls with twisted reinforcing bars were built on the north half of the future cathedral site. The cornerstone of Grace Cathedral, with part of the base of the planned façade's east buttress, was laid by Bishop Nichols on the showery afternoon of January 24, 1910. In attendance were Governor Gillette, Lieutenant Governor Porter, former Mayor Taylor, Bishops Johnson (Los Angeles), Moreland (Sacramento) and Partridge (Kyoto), William H. Crocker, and many notable San Franciscans. Yet by the following summer, it was generally agreed that Hare was too far away, in London, to be fully involved in the details of the design and construction process. Regular correspondence took several weeks. Reluctantly, Hare was dismissed, and his local representative, architect Lewis P. Hobart, was given full responsibility. Hobart's first design, turned west to better fit the site, would not proceed beyond crypt level- the 1914 Founders Crypt- and it would take another fourteen years before ground was broken for Hobart's final design, the present Grace Cathedral.
With the change of plans, the 1910 cornerstone stood alone near the west end of the Founders Crypt, and was untouched as the new south transept of the present Grace Cathedral rose adjacent to it in 1930. (The buttress base and cornerstone are visible to the right of the south transept portal in the first photograph of Ansel Adams at Grace Cathedral.) A recess in the stone contained a copper box time capsule containing diocesan and Grace Church memorabilia that was opened in 1960. During cathedral completion in 1962, the time capsule was refilled, and new items added and the box reinstalled. The cornerstone was moved 175 feet east, to the new Children's Tower, and permanently incorporated into the fabric, fifty-two years after its dedication. One is strongly reminded of the words of Christ (Mark 12:10, quoting Psalm 118:22-23) "The stone which was rejected has become the chief cornerstone."
