St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Church

St. Basil’s Ukrainian Catholic Church was built as a Centennial project in 1967 and it cost $1.5 million to construct. It was designed by Eugene Olekshy as a modern version of a Byzantine style church. The archetypal Byzantine dome was reimagined with a precast concrete structure supported by a precast column system, and covered in a gold plastic coating. The typical classical pillars seen in high style examples like St. Josaphat Ukranian Catholic Cathedral are present, but in deference to the Modern style, the pillars of St. Basil’s are massive tapered concrete structures with understated detailing. Like other Byzantine examples in Edmonton, St. Basil exhibits red brick veneer over its cast concrete structure. However, it also makes use of precast terrazzo panels on the main level, which was a common material used in modern buildings. Finally, in place of traditional stained glass windows, there are simple units with a cross shape in the Muntin bars. The church offers seating for 1200 people, and the interior features rough texture precast concrete with inlaid colored concrete blocks, which provide outstanding acoustic value and require minimal maintenance.