Inside look at Holy Name after the fire
The air smells like smoke.
Water is waist-high in the basement and pours onto a pillar in the church's worship area like a waterfall.
The sound of rain is heard instead of group prayers and organ music as water drips through the ornate ceiling in dozens of places.
About 20 broom-wielding Chicago firefighters are pushing ash-colored water out of the cathedral's aisles, the early steps in what is likely to be an extensive clean-up process.
Inside Holy Name Cathedral at 9:30 this morning, shortly after a roof fire was extinguished, parish staff fluttered about, eager to try to figure out what was lost, what was saved and when the church can get back to business.
"Last January, we put in a marble floor," said Deacon Mike McCloskey, who has been a Holy Name parishioner for 45 years and a deacon there for 30 years. "It was wood and carpet. This is great because they can just push the water out." McCloskey said the floors were part of an extensive cathedral renovation. So were the remodeled bookstore, confessionals, children's playroom and bride's room in the basement.
All were destroyed by the water damage in the basement, he said.
Though water was pouring through light installations on the ceiling, the lights were on inside the cathedral this morning.
McCloskey pointed to the cardinal's hats hanging above the altar. He believed they were wet, the purple color darkened, the hats sagging ‹ but they were still hanging.
The water wasn't dripping onto the altar after the fire was extinguished, but the altar floor was wet. The bishop's chair had been moved off the altar, as well as an assortment of green plants that decorated the altar.
Now, the plants decorated a hallway in an adjacent office.
McCloskey, who lives in a building across from the cathedral, was awakened by pounding on his door at 5:50 a.m.
"The church is on fire!" he said he was told.
Five nuns, a retired bishop and the priests living in the rectory attached to Holy Name were evacuated to his building. All were evacuated safely and watched the fire burn from the sixth floor party room, he said.