THE Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church and Presbytery on Main Street, Georgetown, currently being rebuilt after being demolished by a fire that struck on Christmas Morning 2004, is expected to be completed and occupied by December 2013.
Chairman of the Sacred Heart Rebuilding

Committee, Mr. Ramsay Ali, told the Guyana Chronicle in a telephone interview, yesterday,that the church is 80% complete, and all of the funding has been secured for its completion.
However, funding for the furnishing of the church has not yet been secured, and $25M is needed in this regard, Ali disclosed.
The rebuilding process for this church began in August 2009, when the land was cleared of debris and the fence was built, after which an estimate of $85M was given by architects for the construction of the church.
Funding was secured from corporate Guyana, as well as from donations made by former Sacred Heart parishioners, particularly those that reside in Toronto, Canada. Donations are still being received from persons residing both overseas and locally, as the rebuilding process progresses.
The members of the Sacred Heart Church have been worshipping at the Ursuline Convent for almost seven years, and Mr. Ali had told this publication, in an interview earlier this year, that the church doesn’t need to be completely furnished before it is occupied.
Parishioners suspect that the fire which razed that ecclesiastical edifice was of electrical origin, as decorative lights in the Nativity Crib at the altar began sparking during the mass.
Eyewitnesses told the Guyana Chronicle that  around 08:45 hrs, when the final hymn during the morning mass was being sung, one of the decorative light bulbs around the symbolic crib depicting the birth of the Christ exploded and started the fire. The crib was immediately engulfed in flames, and in a matter of minutes, the entire building was ablaze, as worshippers fled.
Sixty-five parishioners escaped unhurt, and eyewitnesses said that firefighters who arrived shortly after the fire began could do nothing to save the edifice, except to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby structures.
The adjoining Sacred Heart Primary School was also razed to the ground, displacing the students who attended that school. Members of the church lamented the loss of invaluable records and treasured items, which they described as “irreplaceable”.
The Church of the Sacred Heart was built by Father Schembri, an Italian priest, during the period 1859-1861, and was opened in a midnight mass on December 25, 1861.
The plot of land on which the church was built was bought for $1,000., and the total cost of constructing the building was estimated at $18,000.
The church was among the 13 monuments selected in Georgetown’s nomination of structures, and placed as a World Heritage Site. It was an imposing structure built mainly of wood, and inside the church was uniquely intimate, with a wonderfully decorated altar, beautifully illuminated, giving it a very radiant touch whenever services were held.
The building had towers reaching into the skies, as well as a clock that chimed every hour.