A community group in Cape Breton that has been trying to save a 103-year-old stone church has finally taken ownership. It’s been five long years since the group began the fight, but now they say it’s worth it to be able to save a piece of heritage.
“The building is 103-years-old, and it’s worth saving,” says Melanie Sampson of the Stone Church Restoration Society. “It has such a rich Cape Breton history and we’re so thankful for everyone that has believed in us and got us this far.”
St. Alphonsus Church in Victoria Mines, N.S. has been sitting vacant for nearly ten years now. As each year passes the former Holy Sanctuary continues to deteriorate. More damage was discovered on Saturday as a window was blown out by strong winds.
It will be five years in February since Melanie Sampson and her group committed to saving the church from the wrecking ball. It hasn’t been an easy road, but on Saturday, the group finally received the news they’ve been waiting for.
“It’s going to be the best Christmas ever. We just received the official survey plans, so that’s the last thing we’ve been waiting for throughout this duration, so it will just be a matter of signing the papers now and getting our insurance in place,” says Sampson.
Sampson and her volunteer society agreed on a purchase price of $40,000 to buy the church from the Diocese of Antigonish, but that process hasn’t been easy.
“We’ve lost so many opportunities over these past almost five years, that we could have had it restored. Now it will be like starting from square one, but the building will be saved, and that’s the main thing,” says Sampson.
Sampson says the former church is listed as one of Canada’s top ten endangered buildings. The group also just received a national award from the National Trust of Canada.
Still, there’s much work to be done to try and restore the historic building.
“Inside we are going to have to replaster, do electric updates, heating upgrades, and things like that,” explains Sampson.
She says the plan is to restore the Church as a tourist destination, and also as a wedding chapel.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
