Halifax church's steeple, bell tower will not be demolished: parishioners

Members of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on Brunswick Street in Halifax say the church steeple and bell tower have been deemed safe and will not be demolished after all.

In August, a news release from the Concerned Parishioners of St. Patrick’s said they had contracted engineering firm John G. Cooke and Associates Ltd. to conduct an “intrusive” study of the church’s bell tower and steeple.

Parishioners said the company was hired to offer a second opinion on the safety of the tower and steeple after previous studies declared the 1885 structure to be “unsafe.”

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The news release says the initial study was “not based on a detailed examination of the Tower and Steeple using scaffolding and a lift.”

It adds the engineering firm that submitted the initial study recommended an “intrusive study.”

Scaffolding on the St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Halifax. (Source: The Concerned Parishioners of St. Patrick’s)

Following the second study, the firm determined that while the steeple is safe and does not have to be demolished, some emergency masonry repairs to the bell tower are necessary to address the “life safety” issues named in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) compliance order posted on the church on June 19.

Parishioners say the repairs can be done in two phases, with the first phase expected to be finished this fall using scaffolding. The second phase will be finished in the spring by lift access once the scaffolding is dissembled.

The firm’s latest study was sent to the municipality.

“The Tower is safe and the cost of repairs to the Masonry can be done at a fraction of the cost proposed by the Archdiocese which was to be in excess of $12 million. What we are praying for now is that our Canonical Appeal to Rome to reverse the Archdiocesan decision to close the church is successful,” said John Murphy, parishioner and spokesperson for the Concerned Parishioners.

In May, Archbishop Brian Joseph Dunn announced both St. Patrick's and Saint Theresa's churches would close following recommendations from the parish leadership of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi Parish.

A fence is seen out front of Saint Patrick's Church in Halifax. (James Morrison/CTV Atlantic)

A month later, the HRM posted an Order to Comply on the building of the St. Patrick's church. The church was temporarily closed with fencing surrounding the entrance due to safety concerns just days later.

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