Come Tuesday, all eyes will be fixed skyward as Sts Peter and Paul’s Old Cathedral marks a historic moment.

If all goes according to plan, Goulburn’s fine greenstone Cathedral will finally have its spire, completing the 1871 vision of its architects.

It will also beat its Christian counterpart, St Saviour’s Cathedral over the road, to the punch.

Not that anyone is comparing.

Sts Peter and Paul’s Restoration committee member Trish Groves is just looking forward to the event.

“It’s pretty exciting,” she said.

“It’s the first visual of the conservation work we’ve had for a long time.”

Mrs Groves has helped coordinate fundraising for the Cathedral’s overall $8 million restoration, which started in 2006.

Much of the work has involved painstaking re-pointing of sandstone joins, structural stabilisation, damp removal and replacement of sandstone features.

Over the past eight weeks, Sutherland-based outfit Ashford Roofing has been assembling 2000 copper plates onto a frame manufactured by local firm, Pearson Engineering. Another local, architect Garry Dutaillis designed what has been dubbed the ‘Cathedral’s cap.’ Individual donations and the parish have raised $60,000 towards an $80,000 target for the spire.

The 10-metre structure is hidden behind a wall of scaffolding ready for its unveiling.

At 5.30am Tuesday, weather permitting, the Hollingworth Crane will roll up ready for the ‘big lift.’ Mrs Groves said workers could take three hours or more to properly secure the spire and undertake necessary checks before it was hoisted.

The community is invited to a bird’s eye view of the spire and a celebratory barbecue in the presbytery grounds tomorrow from 9.30am until 11am.