The Old Basilica of St. Patrick's in New York, which was the second Catholic Church in Manhattan, the third in the state of New York and the seat of the first Cardinal in the new world, celebrated its 200th anniversary 2009 and just prior to this Rohn and Design Associates were tapped to undertake restoration work of the basilica. Here is a look at the work they undertook.
In the illustration above, you'll note that the original high altar was fashioned into the design proposal. While it wasn't executed in the final design, I was very glad to see this proposed -- and perhaps, one day, this idea might be taken up again.
If I were to make one suggestion, it would, of course, be the about the addition of the predella, but regardless, this is a very noble and substantial altar.
Of course, it will always be of interest to see what the pre-conciliar arrangement was, and so here is an image showing the original high altar arrangement of the basilica:
