After more than two years of trying to save a historic Cape Breton church from being demolished, a community group says the paperwork should be finalized this week.

The Saint Alphonsus Church in Victoria Mines closed several years ago. In 2015, Melanie Sampson and her society entered into an agreement with the Diocese of Antigonish to buy the church.

“It's been a long battle, some uphill struggles and what have you, but we remained strong and with the support from everyone on Cape Breton Island and abroad,” Sampson says. “We are very confident this will take place.”

Sampson says she hopes the paperwork for the former church will be in their hands by Nov.1

Community member, Bill White says he’s thrilled a piece of the town’s history will be kept.

“Young people today will be able to come back and say yeah look at that, as they get older they'll start thinking about the history of things,” White says.

The diocese closed the church because of declining enrollment and high operational costs in Sept. 2015.

They agreed to the society's offer of $40,000 to buy the building, which would be made in four instalments, with the final payment in august 2016. Now that the group has raised the funds, Sampson says the deal still isn’t done yet.

“We just want to be able to be a role model for other society's out there that want to save pieces of our heritage,” she says. “Heritage, once it's gone, it's gone. You can't rebuild it. We need to save as much as our Cape Breton and Nova Scotia heritage as possible.”

The Diocese of Antigonish says the sale is a complicated process because there are two cemeteries on the property that needed to be subdivided, but now that’s done and the sale can proceed.

A military group has offered to put a new roof on the church, as well as electrical and heating upgrades and Sampson says that's why it's pivotal the deal is done soon.

“We have been propositioned by the military that they will come and put a new roof on our building, as long as we pay for the materials with our raise the roof campaign. They will provide staging and materials and over 500 soldiers are coming here from Ontario and New Brunswick.”

Sampson says she hopes the delays are behind them and the society will get access to the church soon.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.