roof during construction. The cathedral was dedicated on August 29, 1848, to St. Michael the Archangel. On September 29, 1848, the cathedral was consecrated after substantial work by the Honourable John Elmsley and his friend Samuel G. Lynn to reduce the debt. The 79-meter bell tower, which contains two bells, was consecrated in 1866. The cathedral played an instrumental role in the founding of nearby St. Michael's Hospital when the Sisters of Saint Joseph, who came to Toronto at the request of Bishop Charbonnel to operate an orphanage and settlement house, responded to the need for care during a diphtheria epidemic in 1892. An Ontario Heritage Trust marker at the church notes its importance in the city's history. An additional plaque was installed on March 28, 1982, by the Archdiocese of Toronto at the rectory. Between 1852 and 1856, the rectory was home to St. Michael's College until it moved to its present location near the University of Toronto. St. Michael's College School, an all-boys school in the Toronto neighbourhood of Forest Hill, was previously the high school section of the original college. The choir was started in 1926, and the original parish school founded in 1900 evolved into the present-day choir school. The choirboys from the school have presented a Christmas concert at the cathedral every year since 1939. The school continues to operate jointly under authority of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Architectural style St. Michael's Cathedral is built in the Gothic revival style. Since it was originally constructed by William Thomas from 1845 to 1848, the building has undergone several renovations. These are the Bishop's Palace additions by Joseph Sheard in 1852, the completion of the tower and spire by firm Gundry & Langley from 1865 to 1867, and the addition of dormers by Joseph Connolly in 1890. The interior of the church, divided into a large nave and two tall aisles, is lavishly decorated. The tall arcade, supported by graceful colonnettes, gives the interior space a feeling of openness and adds to the grand sense of scale that the building imposes. St. Michael's Cathedral is located to the northwest of Church and Shuter streets in Toronto, with the parish office at 200 Church Street. The building is oriented on an off-east–west axis aligned perpendicular to Church Street, with the main entrance on its west side located at 65