Bolgatanga, Aug. 9, GNA - Work on the Bolgatanga new Cathedral building designed to seat over 8,000 people is going on steadily, Reverend Monsignor Roger Aboteyuure of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese said on Wednesday.

Guiding media personnel around the building, Rev. Aboteyuure said the old Cathedral, which could not take more than 2,000 people was too small hence the need for the new building which is only about 100 metres away from the old one.

"Once it was raining heavily while church service was going on and some people had to stand outside the church building because it was full, then it occurred to me that we needed a bigger building," he said. He said the building had progressed by about one-third and that a total amount of 600,000 Ghana cedis had so far been spent on it.

Rev. Aboteyuure who initiated the building project and who continues raising funds for it, said it was not possible to give an estimated total cost of the building as prices of building materials changed quite often and particularly when there was no lump sum put aside for it.

He said most of the funds were given by friends of the church in Canada and part by the local people who also contributed both in cash and by their direct labour.

The building was designed like a local hut and is a huge one-storey, round structure built from cement bricks with an underground car park, offices and a museum.