‘Came down from heaven’: The $10M offer, with conditions, to restore a N.S. church | 24CA News
An nameless donor has stepped up and provided to pay to revive the historic Église Sainte-Marie in Nova Scotia, as long as it resumes companies as an lively Catholic church.
The church was constructed greater than a century in the past in Church Point, N.S., however closed earlier this yr after restore prices ballooned to an estimated $10 million.
The committee that has been elevating funds to put it aside now says an nameless donor has provided to pay for the repairs, in addition to future upkeep.
Pierre Comeau, president of Société Édifice Sainte-Marie de La Pointe, says the group was “ecstatic and overjoyed” once they heard the news and it felt just like the “offer came down from heaven.”
“The building is unique. It was built over a hundred years ago. It’s the largest wooden church in North America, possibly in the world,” he defined.
“To the Acadians of Clare, it’s a part of our heritage because it’s an existing monument to the ingenuity and the perseverance and the faith of our ancestors.”
When the preservation committee first shaped, the unique restore estimate was solely $3 million. However, that determine grew over the 9 years the committee was lively, attributable to inflation and additional deterioration of the construction.
“Obvious necessary repairs include re-shingling the roof completely, it leaks in places. And it’s an expensive proposition because you can see pictures of it, it’s quite tall,” mentioned Comeau.
“The wood shingles on it has to be refashioned, scraped and repainted. Most of the windows will need replacing and painting, other other items that need to be to be replaced and repaired.”
Last fall, the committee introduced it had exhausted all efforts to save lots of the church, which has each nationwide and provincial heritage designations.
With this potential injection of cash, Comeau says the neighborhood is hopeful as soon as once more.
“To us, it’s a church and hopefully it will continue to serve as a church for years to come. But it’s also a testimonial or a monument to what our ancestors did. So as such, we are very we have great pride in it,” he mentioned.
He admits work to restore the construction will take a couple of years, and it’s unclear how turning the constructing into an lively church will have an effect on the three different Catholic church buildings within the space which have lively companies.
Negotiations with the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth are ongoing, and three public conferences are scheduled for Friday and Saturday that will likely be chaired by the archbishop.
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